A Rock & Roll Love Story
by CremedelaEm
Summary: Elena is a waitress by day, and a hardcore rockstar by night. Damon is a successful business man coming home after many years away. With faith behind them, they meet and soon enough, get together. Conflicts eventually get in their path, and they're forced to break up. A story of love, jealously and friendship, can Damon and Elena get pass their demons and be together again?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello everyone! This is going to be my first post on here so I'm a little nervous about this. Please try it out and let me know what you think! I'll post Chapter 2 next week. **

**Happy Reading!**

* * *

The gas station is even more crowded than usual today. Everyone is out and about and in town for the big fundraiser. I have an obligation to be there where as everyone else comes to show off how much cash they have by donating as much as they can and then bragging about it in everyone else's faces.

I park my red Mustang next to a gas pump and get out of the car. My black heels hit the ground with a click as I exit the car and make my way to the store, everyone looking at me as I pass. Almost everyone knows me, so I'm used to it. I'm not famous or anything, just a part of a little garage band that is asked to play at almost every event in this city.

I toss my brown hair over my shoulder as I make my way up to the counter to hand the cashier a fifty dollar bill. I tell him the number of the gas pump I'm parked at and make my way out back to my car. I put the pump in the gas gauge, lean against my car and pull the handle.

The time on my phone tells me I'm already late. I'm supposed to be there at six for sound check and yada yada but it's already going on six ten. The boys are going to flip.

When my car is finally full of fifty dollars worth of gas, I put the pump back and climb back in my car. I take off going ten miles over the speed limit, hoping to not be later than I already am. I'm surprised none of them have been calling me. They should have already called me a million times and left me a thousand messages by now.

I pull up to the parking lot and park in a spot relatively close to the entrance. I grab my Coach purse, put on my sunglasses and get out of the car. As I'm walking away I throw my hand over my shoulder with my keys in it, pressing the button to lock my car. It makes a beep, indicating that it's locked.

The park has already begun to fill up with people. I spot Tyler looking around the park, probably for me. When he spots me, his eyes widen and he walks off the stage. A minute later, I see all three of them walking over towards me. I smile sarcastically while they all look furious. "Hello, boys," I say as I keep walking past them. They turn on their heels and walk behind me, keeping pace.

"Elena, where were you?" Jeremy asks, his hair going all over the place from probably running his hand through it so many times.

"I had to get gas on my way," I tell them.

"You're thirty minutes late! Gas doesn't take thirty minutes to get."

"There was traffic and I got a late start on getting ready. Just relax. The fundraiser doesn't start until seven."

I hear Matt sigh next to me. "We wanted to get a sound check before everyone started to get here."

I look over my shoulder at him. "Why do you need me for that? I just sing."

I can tell I was getting on their nerves. We make our way to the back of the stage where all of their stuff is. I set my purse down next to Tyler's guitar case and walk over to the steps leading to the stage. Matt's drums are already set up and I walk to the microphone. I turn it on, tap on the top a few times and listen for the sound it makes. When I hear the noise, I turn it off, roll my eyes and walk back off stage. The sound check for me really isn't that hard.

The next thirty minutes pass with us deciding what songs to sing. We play rock and alternative and whatever the crowd wants to hear. Once we decide on a set list it's already seven. The fundraiser has begun and more and more people start showing up. We decide to start playing as more people started to walk in. I take off my leather jacket and I'm left in my cheetah print t-shirt and black leggings. I decide against my heels and replace them with black flats.

We all make our way up the stairs to the stage and see everyone coming over to stand in front of the stage. Some are at concession stands buying food and then making their way to us. We all get into our positions. Matt gets behind his drums, Jeremy grabs his bass and Tyler grabs his guitar. I walk up to the microphone, and turn it on. "Hello New York!" I say as I put my hands up in the air. "Are you ready to rock?!"

Everyone in the crowd cheers for us and doesn't stop as we begin to play our first song. The first few bars of House of Rising Sun that we based off the version played by Muse, comes from Ben's guitar as the crowd cheers and I start to sing.

As the night goes on, more people come to listen, and more people get drunker and drunker. The bar must be making lots of money tonight. The feeling I get in my stomach during these gigs is unbelievable. I feel great and I light up inside. These people are here to see us perform, and cheer us on because they love us. What's a better feeling than that?

At the end of Even Flow, we stop and ask the crowd for requests. I scan around the crowd as everyone starts yelling their requests out, hoping we'd hear them. As I'm scanning I see Caroline, my best friend and her boyfriend Klaus waving at us. I wave back and say hello to her. As I keep scanning, my eyes catch on Alaric, one of my best friends. He looks like he's going on his fourth beer. I roll my eyes to myself. There is not one time when he isn't drunk. I look next to him and see clear blue eyes looking up at me.

I gasp softly. The man looking at me has tousled black hair, making his blue eyes stand out even more. He's wearing a black button up shirt and jeans and boots. He's gorgeous, probably the prettiest man I've ever seen. He smirks when he sees me looking at him. I shake my head and look away, pushing away all thoughts of him.

I listen closely again to the crowd and hear Sweet Child of Mine from someone. I walk back and tell everyone what song we're doing and walk back up to the front.

I find myself looking back to those blue eyes every few minutes. Whenever I look over at him, he's still intensely looking at me. I'm not sure what brings me to look at him every second. I try my best to not pay much attention to him.

I don't look back at him for the rest of the night after a few more songs. We play until midnight. Half of the crowd is already gone save for a few. We say goodnight and our thank yous before exiting the stage.

"Woo yeah!" I say as we get off the stage. We are all smiling and exhilarated. I jump around with my hands in the air as they got their stuff together. "What a show! How about we go out to a bar? Drinks are on me."

"That sounds like fun," Matt says.

"Yeah, I'm in," Jeremy says.

They get all their things together as we decide on where we were going. Caroline joins us ten minutes after the show. She runs up to me and gives me a hug. "You were amazing!"

"Thanks girl," I say as we pulled away. "Hi, Klaus," I say to the man behind Caroline.

"Hey, Elena. Great show."

I just smile. "We're going out to a bar tonight, you guys are welcome to come if you want."

"Yes! That sounds great!" Caroline says.

I grab my purse and after taking off my flats, put back on my heels. I don't bother putting back on my jacket. The night has a nice summer breeze.

Matt puts his drums in his van, telling us he'd meet us there. "Hey Lena, can you give me a ride?" Jeremy asks.

"Of course," I say before Jeremy, Caroline, Klaus and I start to walk back to the front parking lot.

"I will," I hear him call back to us.

Caroline and Klaus are talking in front of us. Jeremy's bass case is hitting my leg with every step he takes. "Can you hold your bass in your other hand?" I ask him.

He looks down at me in confusion. "Why?"

"You keep hitting my leg with it."

He rolls his eyes and does what I asked. I chuckle at his reaction. "Don't get mad at me, you're the one with the big ass case."

He doesn't say anything, he just shakes his head. "You did great tonight."

I scoff. "I thought I always did great?"

He shrugs. "I guess that's true. We're a good band."

I nod. "You got that right. The best one in New York City."

"Hell yeah!"

I giggle as I bump into someone. I trip and then I'm stopped in place by those blue eyes.

I would have fallen over if his arm didn't catch me. His arm is around my waist, holding me close to him. He looks just as affected by me as how I must be. He looks down into my brown eyes and then sets me up straight, keeping his arm around me.

"Sorry," I say to him.

He smirks. "It's alright. I should be saying sorry to you, I wasn't looking where I was going."

I shake my head. "Neither was I."

He just smiles and looks at me. He removes his arm, and holds out his hand. "I'm Damon."

I look down at his hand and back to his face. I take his hand slowly, unsure of why he's introducing himself. A quick apology would've been okay. "I'm Elena," I say taking his hand.

"I know," he says. "Great job up there."

"Thank you," I say. "You were with Alaric, right?"

He nods. "Yes, he's somewhere around here."

"I thought I saw you two together. He's probably off drinking at the bar." I look over and sure enough, I see Alaric flirting with some blonde with a beer in his hand. I roll my eyes and turn my attention back on Damon. "Well, anyways. Tell Alaric I said hi and sorry for bumping into you."

He nods. "Okay, I will. Nice meeting you, Elena."

The way my name fell off his tongue gives me butterflies in my stomach. I give him a quick smile and turn away from him. Jeremy follows quickly behind. "That was weird," he mutters.

I look over at him. "What do you mean?"

"The guy couldn't take his eyes off you."

I roll my eyes. "He did."

Jeremy shakes his head, smiling. "Nope, I don't think so. I think you have a new admirer."

I punch his arm. "Shut up."

We arrive at my car after telling Caroline we'd see her at the bar. Jeremy puts his bass in the trunk and climbs into the passenger seat. I get into the driver's seat and plug my phone into the stereo. I select a quick Nirvana song and drive away towards the bar.

When we arrive, I see Matt in the corner growing impatient at the fact that we weren't there with him. "Finally!" he says. "I was waiting forever for you guys. Is it just gonna be us three?"

I shake my head. "Caroline and Klaus are coming."

"Okay well, I'll go get the first round!"

* * *

My eyes flutter open at an annoying song going off. When my eyes open fully, I realize it was the alarm on my phone. I moan and slide my finger across the bottom to shut it off. "Too early," I mutter.

It's ten in the morning. I slowly sit up in my bed, trying to recall last night's events. I don't put that much effort into it, knowing that it would come to me sooner or later.

I get out of my bed and walk over to the window of my apartment, out looking the city. When I get a full dose of the sunlight, I'm more aware of the pounding headache I'm sporting. I quickly walk away and go in search of aspirin.

After a long hot shower, I get out and get ready. I blow dry my hair and then curl it with a curling rod. I apply my makeup, making my brown eyes lighter. I put on a black v-neck t-shirt and jeans - my work attire. I slide on my crappy Vans that are so dirty from the floors at work, grab my purse and leave the apartment.

On my way to work, I can't stop thinking about those blue eyes. How clear they were. How it seemed they were looking straight through me. How when he said my name it gave me butterflies, a feeling I haven't felt in a while. When the hell am I going to be able to see him again?

Four hours into my shift, I'm already tired and not feeling good at all. All I want is to lie down and sleep for the rest of my life. This happens to me every time. I swear to myself I won't go drinking again after a night of drinking and then a few days later, I go drinking again.

"Elena," someone calls my name. I turn around and see my co-worker Jen coming up to me. "That man over there asked to sit in your section," she says and points over to a slouched back I knew well.

I smile at Jen. "Thanks, Jen."

I walk over to Ric and sit down in the seat across from him. He doesn't acknowledge my presence. He just looks down at his coffee. "Rough night?" I ask him.

He looks up to me. "You got it."

"Me too. What'd you do?"

He shrugs. "Damon and I went out to a bar with Stefan and a few other people. You?" Stefan was another good friend of mine.

"I went with Jeremy, Matt, Tyler, Caroline and Klaus. I don't really remember much."

"Well, that makes two of us."

I look down at his appearance. He looks back down to his coffee "What are you doing here anyway? You don't look good at all."

He takes a deep breath before sighing. "Someone wouldn't get off my back about you last night. Figured I bring him here to meet you so he'd quit bothering me."

I narrow my eyebrows. "Who?"

"Think you'll find out soon enough. Now can you just leave me be? My head kills."

I chuckle. "I'll find you some aspirin and I'll keep the coffee coming."

"Thank you," he mutters.

I get up from the chair and go behind the counter to look for the aspirin. Of course, it's buried behind all the extra menus and notepads. I manage to get it out just as I bump my head on the edge of the counter.

"Son of a bitch," I mutter and rub my head. When I look up, those blue eyes are looking down on me, smiling. My heart flutters and my stomach flips under his penetrative gaze. "You alright?"

Well, hell. I just made a complete fool of myself. I stand up quickly, grab the aspirin and nod to him. "Yes, thanks. Bring these over to Ric. He's over there," I say and point to where Ric is. He looks off in the direction I'm pointing and nods. "Thanks, Elena."

My stomach flips again at hearing my voice on his tongue and I smile at him. He winks and then goes over to Ric's table and sits down across from him. They start talking as I pretend to do something on the computer, glancing over at them every few minutes. Suddenly, Damon's eyes look over at me just as I was pulling my gaze away from them.

Damon must have been the one that was asking about me to Ric last night. What did he even have to ask about? Almost everyone around here knew everything about me. He must be new to town or something. I'm not even that interesting for someone to be asking about.

I throw myself back into work, working a little bit faster than usual out of nervousness. I try to avoid Ric's table as much as possible. I keep checking when Ric runs out of coffee. When he does, I take the coffee pot, take a deep breath and walk over to their table.

I reach for his mug and pour the coffee into it. "Anything I can get for you, Damon?"

He shakes his head. "Not right now, thanks."

"Okay, just flag me down when boozy over here runs out of coffee."

He smiles and nods and I walk away. Once I put the coffee pot down, I reach into my pocket and grab a hair tie. I pull my hair into a loose pony tail and grab my notepad. When I turn around, I see Damon looking right at me. I try not to smile and look away quickly before walking in the opposite direction.

When I finally get my break, I go over to Ric and Damon's table. They quickly shut up when I arrive. I narrow my eyebrows. "What're you guys talking about?"

They both look at each other. "Nothing," Ric says lazily.

"What're you doing here?" Damon asks me.

"I'm on my break," I tell them and take a sip from my Dr. Pepper. "Why are you guys still here? I thought you would've been long gone by now."

"I don't feel like getting up," Ric says. "And the coffee here is great."

I look to Damon who was already looking at me. "What about you?"

"The view here is great," he says and flashes a cocky smile. I scold myself for almost blushing when I knew what he actually means. He chuckles. "And I'm not about to leave my best friend here by himself."

Oh. "You guys are best friends?"

Ric nods. "He's Stefan's brother."

Stefan's brother?

Stefan has told me about a brother one time or another, but nothing really about him. He never mentioned his name. Why the hell didn't he tell me about his brother coming into town?

I look over to Damon, trying to see the resemblance. "He told me about you," I say.

He raises his eyebrows. "Huh, I'm surprised. I didn't think he was one to brag."

My eyes squint out of annoyance. "You're very cocky."

"And you're very nosy."

I raise my eyebrows. "How am I nosy? I'm not the one asking people about someone."

Fuck. Why the hell did I say that?

He just smiles. "Oh, you heard about that, did you? Well, Ric was more than willing to share that information to a newbie like me."

I look to Ric. "What did you tell him?"

He rolls his eyes. "Nothing bad. I promise."

"Bad? Please. He gave me all the dirt. Past boyfriends, address, social security number, bank account number…"

"He doesn't even know all that stuff about me so."

He smiles at me, his pupils dilating. I hope there will be a change of topic soon because talking about this is just weird.

"So, you're in a band," he starts.

I nod. "Yep, going on three years now."

"Huh. That's interesting. How did you meet the people in your band?"

I think for a minute and lean back in my chair. "I've known Jeremy and Matt since high school and Tyler is a friend of Matt's."

He nods his head. "So you guys just usually play rock music?"

I shrug. "Depends on the audience. Yes, we do most rock music, some alternative and modern stuff. I even sing pop by myself sometimes."

"Yeah, all the girly music that makes you want to chop your ears off," Ric says.

I squint my eyes at him. "You love it. Remember when I sang Ellie Goulding to you on your birthday?"

He widens his eyes. "You promised you'd never speak of it again!"

I threw my hand, shoving the idea away. "What's to be ashamed of? You like Ellie Goulding, what's the big deal?"

Damon laughs and I look over at him. "I don't like Ellie Goulding; you just started singing her to me!"

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, okay Ric, whatever you say."

"Watch out for her Damon or the next thing you know she'll go singing Lady Gaga to you."

I roll my eyes while Damon grins and nods his head. "I wouldn't mind that."

I raise my eyebrows. "You like Lady Gaga?"

He shakes his head. "No, but I wouldn't mind you singing to me."

I probably look like a deer caught in headlights. He's all laid back, and chuckling at Ric while I'm beginning to freak out. He can't say something like that!

I look down at my phone. Caroline has called me 15 times. How did I not feel my phone vibrating? "Damn it," I mutter and call her back.

"Where are you?" she asks me, not even greeting me.

"Oh hey, Caroline, it's so nice for you to call me a thousand times."

"Don't give me your sarcasm now. Where are you?"

"I'm at work, why?"

She sighs. "Because I'm in your apartment and you were nowhere to be found. I thought someone had kidnapped you."

I roll my eyes. "Why are you in my apartment? That spare key I gave you is only for emergencies, remember."

"Well, this is an emergency! We need to do something tonight and I have no ideas!"

"Well, Jeremy, Matt, and Tyler were going to come to my place tonight. Maybe after that we could do something."

"Okay, I'll call you back with the details, bye!"

I hang up the phone and get back into the conversation with Ric and Damon. They're talking about something that had happened the night before. After having enough of them talking about something that didn't concern me, I get up and get back to work.

An hour later, I see Ric and Damon getting ready to leave. "Leaving so soon?" I say as I pass them to bring a family to their table. I hand them their menus, telling them I'd be right back for their drink orders and walk back over to them.

Ric nods. "I have to go get a drink or I'm going to lose it."

I sigh and drop my shoulders. "You should really stop drinking."

He rolls his eyes. "I will eventually. Maybe somewhere between one and two tonight I'll pass out and stop drinking."

I hit his arm. "I mean it. Damon, will you watch out for him?"

Damon smiles and nods. "I will. It was good to see you again, Elena."

There it was again. Those butterflies that formed when he said my name. I smile back at him. "It was good to see you too. Maybe I'll see you around."

Damon nods again. "I'm sure you will."

After a generous tip from Damon, they leave. I go back over to the table I just sat down and take their drink orders. For the rest of the night, I can't stop thinking of those bright blue eyes and when I would see them again.

At seven, I clock out and head out to the parking lot. I hop in my car, plugging in my phone as Muse starts to play. I drive home, taking more time than usual. The boys won't be at my place for a while, at least 7:30. I go the speed limit, something I never do and get to my apartment building at 7:15. I climb into the elevator, pressing the sixth button and feel the elevator starting to rise.

The elevator stops on my floor and when it did, I turn to the right. I walk down the hall and made another right and a left before seeing Matt leaning on my door. "Hey," I say as I kept walking towards him.

"It's about time you got home," he says as I take out my keys and unlock the door.

I raise an eyebrow. "How long have you been here?" We both walk inside my apartment and I shut the door.

"For fifteen minutes!" Matt plops himself down on the couch. I stomp my foot and slap my leg in annoyance. "I told you I got out of work at seven!"

He shakes his head. "No you didn't, you said be here at seven."

I scoff and lean down to take off my shoes. "Well Jeremy and Tyler seemed to have heard me since they're not here yet."

"They're just late."

I shake my head and go back into my room to change. "So, what're we doing tonight?" Matt asks from the other room.

"Um, I'm not sure," I muse as I go to my closet to look for something to wear. I find jean shorts and a men's brown tank top band shirt. I let my hair out from my pony tail and re-curl it.

"Well, I think we should do something fun. Get your mind off Damon."

I stop in my tracks and poke my head out of my bedroom door to look at him. "What do you know about Damon?"

He smiles a wide smile. "Only that you wouldn't shut up about him last night."

I put my hand over my mouth in shock. "What? Are you kidding me? What did I say?"

"You don't remember?"

I shake my head. "No."

His smile widens. "Then it'll be me to only know and for no one to find out."

I throw a sock at him. "Tell me what I said!"

He starts laughing as I run to him and jump on him. He starts to fight me off until I put my legs astride him and hold his hands over his head. "Tell me!"

He tries to calm down before he begins. "You said he had the most beautiful blue eyes and he was so cute and how you wanted to marry him. You said you wanted to see him again and started to name ways how to see him again."

I growl and lay back down on his legs. "Oh my god," I moan and put my hands over my face. "That's so embarrassing, I don't even know him."

He sits up and looks down at me. "If it makes you feel any better, you only told me. Everyone else was dancing and you were drunk as hell and came over to talk to me."

I groan again. "I'm so embarrassing. Oh my god, I'm a hypocrite. I told Alaric to stop drinking when I can't even stop drinking."

Matt rolls his eyes. "Ric is five years older than you. You're only twenty one, you're just having fun. Ric is just… an alcoholic."

"Is that all I said?" I say as I remove my hands from my face.

He nods. "Yes, about him. You said a lot of other shit too but none of it is worth repeating."

"I can't believe I don't remember last night. I must have been drinking a lot of vodka."

Matt smiles and nods. "Yes, you did. And tequila."

I sit up abruptly and look at him in the eyes. "You cannot tell anyone what I said last night."

"Don't worry about it, Elena. I'm not going to tell anyone. I thought you thought about me differently than that."

I lean back against his legs again. "I'm just making sure."

"Well, your secret is safe with me."

Just then, Tyler and Jeremy throw themselves through the door and look at me and Matt. "Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt," Tyler says as Jeremy closes the door.

I roll my eyes and sigh. "Nothing for you to interrupt."

Jeremy immediately goes into the kitchen to look for food. He opens the fridge and searches. When he doesn't find anything of interest, he closes the door and goes searching through the pantry. "You have nothing to eat," he mutters.

Matt lies back down on the couch and moves his legs so I'm not laying directly on them. Tyler takes residence in the arm chair as he takes the remote and turns on the TV. "So, what're we doing tonight?"

"I don't know. What do you want to do?" I ask.

"I know what I want to do. I'm asking what you want to do."

"What do you want to do?" I ask again, my voice tighter.

"I'm not telling you until you tell me what you want to do."

"Well, then I guess we're at an impasse."

I lean my head back as I put it back in a pony tail, annoyed at it's ability to manage to get in my face at every turn. "We could go to a bar," Jeremy suggests.

"We already did that last night," I said.

"So? We go to a bar almost every night of the week."

"Yeah, but if we do it too much we'll get bored of it."

Tyler turns on Tosh.0 as Jeremy makes his way to the living room with a bag of chips. He sits down in the other armchair and sits so his legs went over the arm rest. They start laughing at the show as my brain raked for options.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and Caroline and Klaus enter. "We're having a party!" Caroline says, putting her hands up.

I sigh. "What? What do you mean? When?"

"I called a few people and they called a few people and I brought the drinks and they're coming here in an hour," she says looking proud of herself.

"How many people?" I ask, annoyed. I wasn't trying to get kicked out of my apartment tonight.

"I called ten, they called… I don't know, but it'll be fun!"

"Caroline, other people live here too you know. We can't throw a big banger here and expect me to not get in trouble by the owners."

"Elena, there are so many empty apartments on this floor. There's not that many people living here. Besides, I already checked with the landlord and he said it was okay."

My hands cover my eyes. "Well, I'm in," Matt says.

"I'm in too," Tyler says.

"Me three," Jeremy agrees.

I sigh in defeat. "Okay, but if I get kicked out I'm going to move in with one of you guys."

"You can move in with me right now," Jeremy says.

I roll my eyes. When I broke up with my last boyfriend, I stayed with him for a few weeks. Ever since then, he's always too eager to have me back. "I'm not in search of a house just yet," I mutter.

Everyone starts setting everything up. The drinks, the cups, the shot glasses. We all take a shot before everyone starts showing up.

Music is blasting two hours later with people dancing and drinking. A lot of people had shown up that I didn't recognize. I have a beer in my hand and I'm dancing with two boys who I don't know, when I see Caroline open the door to invite in Ric, Stefan and then Damon. I smile and light up. Damon's here.

I keep dancing with the boys, feeling Damon's eyes on me. I take a quick sip of my beer. I'm not going to pay any attention to them right now. I'll say hello to them later.

A little while later, I spot Damon dancing with some random girl that I don't know. I can't help but feel angry at the sight, but I quickly brush it off. He's not mine.

Someone takes the tequila out and we all start doing shots. "Body shots!" I call out, putting my hands in the air.

Caroline goes first and lies down on the counter. Klaus comes up and does the shot and everyone cheers. "Me next!" I say as I knock Caroline off the counter and lie down in the spot she was.

Suddenly, four guys surround me, including Damon. I smile and laugh as someone prepares it. Damon puts a lime wedge in my mouth, salt on my stomach and pours tequila in my belly button. I giggle at the strange feeling and start to get ready for what he was about to do.

He gives me a wicked grin as his tongue goes over my stomach and lands in my belly button. I laugh and put my head back as his tongue laps up the tequila. He then moves his mouth up, his tongue never breaking contact with my skin and puts his mouth on mine as he tries to get the lime.

But as soon as our lips touch, desire erupts inside me and I pull him down to me. He seems just as eager as I am and he put his hands on my neck, pulling me up with him. He finally breaks away and everyone cheers and I giggle. He smiles down at me and takes the lime rind from his mouth and puts it on the floor.

I get up and put my arms around his neck. "You're good at those."

He grins his wicked grin. "Lots of practice."

"I can tell," I say as he puts his arms around my waist. I can tell he's drunk. Hell, I'm probably drunker than him.

He then drags a finger up my body, leaving goose bumps in their wake and puts it on my lips. "You're so pretty," he says lazily, and I knew my earlier suspicions were wrong. He is drunker than me.

I giggle. "You're not so bad-looking yourself."

"I know." He grins cockily and drags his hand through my hair. "Want to do another shot but this time on your neck?"

I smile. "Would you like to suck on my neck?"

He nods. "Hell yeah."

I take his hand and drag him over to the alcohol. I pour salt on my neck and put a lime in my mouth as he pours the shot. He looks down at me before moving his lips onto my neck. He licks off all the salt on my neck and then still sucks on it. I begin to worry about a hickey but just then, he kisses his way up to my lips and takes the lime.

The same thing happens as it did before. Damon pushes his tongue against my lips until I grant him access. He puts his arms around my waist and clings me to him, my body shaping around his perfectly. He pulls away all too soon and looks down at me with hooded eyes.

"Elena!" someone calls to me. I don't bother to look to see who it is. "Dance with me," they say and pull me along. I give Damon an apologetic look before I turn around and see Tyler leading me to where everyone is dancing.

We both begin to dance. "What the hell are you doing?" he asks me.

"What do you mean?"

"Why is some random guy putting his tongue down your throat?"

I groan and put my head back. "I'm just having fun, Tyler. Don't be such a buzz kill."

"You don't even know the guy, though."

"Yes I do."

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Damon dancing with another girl. I try not to pay much attention to it and ignore the anger searing through me. "He's Stefan's brother," I tell him, putting my attention back to him.

He rolls his eyes and doesn't say anything. "Look, can we not talk about this now? You can yell at me tomorrow or whatever."

Tyler nods. "I'll hold you to that."

I sigh and dance away from him to a group of guys. I then got in the middle of two of them as we dance against each other to the music. I giggle when the guy behind me puts his arm around my waist. When they disperse, I see Damon coming over towards me. He takes my hand and twirls me around until I land in his arms again. "Wow," was all I could say. He smiles as he pulls me against him and we start moving.

"Spin the bottle!" someone announces. People start to cheer and go over to where the person announced it. I see a few people go into my bedroom. Not everyone goes over to where they're having it.

"What are we, ten?" I roll my eyes. "Want to do it?"

He nods his head. "Only if you want to and only if I get to kiss you," he says and puts his finger on my nose.

I grab Damon's hand and lead us to my bedroom. Ric, Stefan, Matt and Jeremy are setting it up with a few other people. Some girls I don't know show up to play also. I see Caroline and we sit next to each other as one by one everyone takes their turn spinning the bottle.

When it comes to Damon's turn, he gives me a malicious look before he spins. The bottle spins around a few times and then stops. On me.

Everyone 'ooh's as Damon crawls over to me. He then takes my face in his hands and kisses me hard. I end up falling to the floor and he falls with me, lying on top of me, his one leg in between both of mine. I grant him access to my mouth again with his tongue, as he tastes the inside of my mouth. I bite his lower lip. He groans and only begins to kiss me more. "Okay, you two, get a room!" Ric calls out.

"Maybe you all can leave, it's my bedroom," I tell them. Damon chuckles as his mouth goes down to my throat.

"No we're not leaving!" Caroline says. "Either you two leave or Elena, you can spin."

I groan as I push Damon away. He groans too and doesn't bother to sit up again. I spin the bottle, nervous for who it was going to land on. It starts to slow down and then lands on Damon. I squeal and look over at Damon happily. "It's meant to be!" I roll over to Damon and lie on top of him before kissing him. I put my hands on either sides of his face and he chuckles.

Once everyone had spun, we all take a shot of vodka and surrender ourselves to the burning feeling going down our throats.

* * *

**A/N: And that's it for Chapter 1! Please favorite and review and tell me what you think. **

**See you next week!**

**Xoxo Em**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys! Thank you all so so so much for reviewing and favoriting and following. My face literally goes into a huge smile whenever I get an alert on the story. This chapter is super early, but I just finished it and wanted to get it on here before the weekend for you all to read.**

**I've decided to update my profile with whatever I'm doing with a chapter. I'll say like I'm currently working on, writing, editing, and all that jazz. If I update it saying that I'm editing a chapter, you can expect a chapter update soon! So check my profile whenever you want to get an idea of when I'll update. **

**Hope you enjoy this chapter. Happy reading!**

* * *

My body begins to wake up even when my mind doesn't want to. I don't open my eyes. The pounding in my head is unbearable. I groan as my hand goes up to my head. It must have been a fun night if my head hurts this much.

I open my eyes slowly and see that I'm lying on the floor in the kitchen. I look around me and see that I'm alone. Everyone must have left. At what time, I don't know but at least they're gone.

There's red cups all over the floor. I groan at the thought of having to clean this all up. Maybe I'll have Caroline come over and help me. It was her idea anyway.

I slowly get up and stumble into the living room to look at the damage. Nothing is broken, thank god. My whole apartment is trashed though. I try to remember some memories from last night. I remember dancing with strange guys and people doing tequila shots. Then I remember doing one and…

My blood runs cold. Oh shit. I did one with Damon.

I didn't just do one either. I did two.

My hand goes up to my forehead. How drunk was I last night? More memories flood into my mind of him. Spin the bottle. Dancing with Damon, kissing Damon….

What the hell? I only met the guy ten minutes ago and I've already made out with him… four times!

My thoughts stop at a halt when I see something moving on the couch. I slowly walk over, hoping it's not some weird guy who didn't leave last night. I see black hair and then Damon's face slowly waking up. I take a deep breath in relief and put my hand over my chest. He opens his eyes lazily and then closes them. "What time is it?" He starts to stretch out his muscles.

I look over at the clock. "Eleven," I mutter lazily and plop myself down on the couch. "What are you still doing here?"

His hand goes into his hair. "I don't know… the last thing I remember was you passing out in the kitchen and then…," he says and shakes his head.

"Well, you seem to remember more than I do. I don't remember passing out."

"It was sometime after we were playing spin the bottle," he says and widens his eyes and looks over at me.

I nod my head and give him a sarcastic smile. "Oh yeah, buddy, I remember it too."

He smiles. "I didn't mind it."

"You sure seemed like you didn't."

He smiles and shakes his head. He starts to get up and looks around his surroundings. "I'm surprised Ric and Stefan left me here."

"Well, Ric was probably too drunk to care and Stefan probably forgot about you. Some brother."

He doesn't say anything as he makes his way to the kitchen. I take this opportunity and quietly admire his back. He's just in a white t-shirt. He must have taken off his shirt last night and left it somewhere. Where, I don't know, but at least if I find it I can keep it. Finders keepers losers weepers.

His perfectly sculptured back muscles can be seen through his shirt, and all I want to do is just rip it off and see the real thing. I avert my eyes when he turns towards me, catching me staring. "Haven't you learned staring is impolite?"

I smile and look everywhere but at him. I can almost hear his smirk as he fills up a glass of water and drinks it. I can still feel his eyes on me. "I thought staring was impolite?" I tell him, looking back over at his intense gaze.

"I don't have any manners."

"Last night surely proved that," I say and get up. He's still staring at me, watching my every movement as I stand across from him at the counter. "I can take you home," I say and grab my keys and sunglasses.

He nods. "I'd appreciate it. Where's your aspirin?"

I walk over to the kitchen to get it from the cabinet. We both take one and swallow it down with the water from his glass.

"Have you seen my shirt anywhere?"

Oh damn, he noticed he wasn't wearing it. Maybe if I can get him out of here quick he'll forget about it and I can still keep it.

I look around. "No, I haven't. If I do see it I'll bring it to you, though." Lie. He's never getting that shirt back and he knows it. "Let's go," I say as wave him on and we walk out of my apartment.

Once we're in the hallway, I stop in my tracks. "Oh damn, I forgot shoes," I mutter as I walk back into the apartment and throw on a pair of flip-flops.

He starts laughing at me when I emerge from my apartment and shut the door. "How do you forget shoes?"

I start laughing with him and we walk down to the elevator and take it down to the parking lot.

"This is yours?" he says as he stands in front of my car, admiring it.

I nod and unlock it with my keys. "Yes, I've had it for a year and a half."

I walk around to the driver's side and open the door when I realize he isn't walking to the passenger side. "Are you coming or are you just going to stare at this all day?"

He smirks. "Well, I don't know. If I get to stare at it all day then that means I get to be with you all day."

I sigh. "Damon, you can't say things like that."

He then starts to walk over to the passenger side. "And why's that?"

We both got into the car and I put my keys into the ignition. "Because you just can't."

He doesn't say anything else and I plug my phone in and looked for a song. "Do you listen to rock as much as you sing it?" he asks me, looking down at me.

"No, I have a very wide variety of musical tastes," I said and wiggle my eyebrows. I choose a Machine Gun Kelly song and start to drive. "Where's your house? Or apartment or hotel or whatever you live in."

He completely ignores my question. "How come you can do your little eyebrow thing but I can't say certain things?"

"What eyebrow thing?"

"You know what eyebrow thing."

I pretend I have no idea what he's talking about. "No, I don't. Show me it."

He then shows me what I just did to him and I smile. "Damon, don't wiggle your eyebrows at me."

"Oh my god," he says in exasperation. "You're impossible."

I laugh at him, his hands over his face. I ask again and he answers. "I'll give you directions, just keep driving."

We drive in silence for a few minutes, him telling me where to go every so often. The awkwardness between us is not lost. Hell, we made out last night. We were probably well past first base and leading into second. Neither of us mentions it.

When I drive up in front of his apartment building, he hesitates before getting out of the car. "Go to dinner with me."

My stomach drops as I look into the sincerity of his eyes. I'm staring at him, wide-eyed and shocked, with no idea what to answer with. What the hell do I say? Yes? No? Maybe? "You don't have to take me to dinner just because you kissed me last night."

"I want to."

I give him an unsure look. "Hmm, I don't think you do. I think you feel guilty for something and you're just trying to make it up to me."

"What is there to make up? We kissed, it was smoking hot and I want to take you out to dinner. Maybe you're the one who feels guilty."

"What is there to be guilty of?"

"Well, maybe you have some tough boyfriend who could beat me up if he had the chance when he finds out what we did."

Ah, the million dollar question. He's asking it, but not asking it directly. "I don't have a boyfriend."

"Great, then I'll pick you up at eight."

I sigh in annoyance. "That doesn't mean I'm saying yes!"

"Well, what's your reason for saying no?"

I try to think of a good excuse. "I don't know anything about you. How am I supposed to know you won't kidnap me?"

"I won't. And you can get to know me over dinner."

He's smiling a one-sided smile that makes my stomach flutter with butterflies. How can one smile make me feel like that?

"It's too soon," I tell him.

He squints his eyes, that smile still playing on his lips. "So, how many more parties of both of us getting drunk and kissing and you 'getting to know me'," he says quoting with his fingers as he rolls his eyes, "until you say yes?"

"Why are you so bent on this?"

He then starts to get exasperated. "Because, I want to watch you eat, why do you think?"

I smile. "I think we'll say three parties."

He breathes out a big breath and looks out the windshield. "You're going to have to say yes sometime, you know."

"I know," I say, the smile plastered on my face.

He looks back over to me, smiling slightly. "So, why can't you say yes now if you know you're going to say yes in the future?"

"Because I don't want to."

He doesn't say anything. He just looks at me and keeps smiling. "I'll see you at that next party then."

"I guess you will."

He leans over and kisses my cheek. My heart stops and he leans away from me. The part where his lips were has a tingly feeling. He looks away from me and gets out of the car.

I start smiling to myself as I watch him walk into his building. Once I saw he was inside, I drive away.

I smile the way home, just thinking of him. Damn, he wanted a date. With me! I start to get frustrated at the fact that I didn't say yes, when I realize that everything I said is true. It would be too soon for that and I don't want to make things even more awkward than they already are.

Once inside my apartment, I grab a trash bag and begin to clean up. Some gentleman he was. He didn't even offer to stay to help clean up.

Three trash bags later, I go over to check my phone. Caroline called me a few times, and Matt once. I call Caroline back first.

"Hello?" she answers.

"Hey, Care. What's up?"

"Elena! We need to talk. You have to tell me everything, what the hell happened last night?"

"What do you mean?" My heart begins to quicken. Was there something else I did that I just didn't remember?

"You don't remember?"

"I remember a few things, not a lot."

"Does the name Damon ring a bell?"

"Oh yeah…," I say. I forgot how she was there to witness all of that. She must have been wondering what the hell I was doing.

Then I start remembering Damon's lips on my skin. The way my skin tingled after his lips left my skin. The look in his eyes when he leaned away... Why the hell did I say no to him again?

"ELENA!"

I pull the phone away from my ear, my ear ringing from her yelling. "What?"

"Where are you? I'm coming over."

"I'm home. Come whenever you want," I say, knowing that this conversation was going to take a lot of energy for the full of energy Caroline.

"Okay, I'll be there soon."

I hang up my phone and sigh. Usually I'm willing to tell Caroline all about a guy, but I'm just so exhausted, I don't feel like giving her the story now. But I know she won't let it down until I tell her everything. That was one of the negatives with Caroline.

I then call Matt, who just wanted to make sure I was okay and asked if I wanted to talk. I tell him we'd talk sometime this week, but not today. I already have Caroline to deal with.

I quickly take a shower, wanting to get the smell of sweat and alcohol off me. Once I'm out, I put on a pair of Soffes and a big t-shirt. I don't bother putting on makeup. I just blow dry my hair and put it up in a pony tail.

I start again on picking everything up when I hear a knock on the door and Caroline enters. "I come bearing gifts!" she says.

I put the garbage bag down and smile, walking over to her. "What did you get?"

She pulls a big box out of the bag, and I see that it's my favorite coffee K-cups. "Ahh! Thank you!" I say as I pull her into a hug. "I've been wanting to get new K-cups all week but I never got a chance."

"Well, I noticed that I knew you'd have a huge hangover today, and these were on sale so I decided to kill two birds with one stone and here they are."

"Thanks Care, it's very thoughtful," I say with a smile and she rolls her eyes.

"It's just twenty-four K-cups, Lena."

I bring the big box into the kitchen and set it next to my Keurig. When I walk back into the living room, Caroline is ready to bounce and has compiled a list of questions. "So, tell me everything about this Damon guy! Alaric told me that was his name when I asked, but that's all I know about him."

I roll my eyes and laugh as we both sit down on the couch. "He's Stefan's brother."

She widens her eyes. "Stefan's brother? That Damon? Oh man, Stefan told me a lot about him."

I frown at the fact that Stefan talked to Caroline about this than with me. After all, we're closer than they are. "Like what?"

"I don't know if I should tell you."

"Just tell me."

"It's not mine to tell."

"Caroline! When is one time that you've ever withheld information? Especially with me?"

"Ugh, fine! He just told me that they're very close, and just that Damon has many extracurricular activities."

I begin to grow annoyed. This is like pulling teeth. "What kinds of extracurricular activities?"

"Oh, just that he sleeps around a lot. But I don't know if that's true still. Stefan told me that like a year ago when he wasn't here. I guess he's back now though."

My stomach drops. He doesn't want me just for sex, does he? No, I don't think so. He wants a date with me. Does he take all the women he sleeps with on dates before he sleeps with them? I doubt it. He probably just picks them up at a bar, right? Is it different with me?

"Do you know how he meets all the girls he sleeps with?"

She shrugs. "He said he picks them up at bars and stuff. Then he just brings them home and dumps them in the morning. But he's probably changed. He's been away for five years; he's bound to have changed his ways. He seems like a good guy now. I shouldn't be telling you this anyway. He should be the one to tell you."

"Well, how do you know I'm going to be available for him to tell me?"

She sighs. "Because I know you, Elena. Besides, he's Stefan's brother. You're bound to see him again sooner or later."

"Sooner than you think," I mumble, hoping she doesn't hear me. But of course she does. "What does that mean?

I take a deep breath before dropping the big bomb on her. "When I woke up this morning he was sleeping on the couch. He said he didn't know why he stayed and all he remembered was me passing out in the kitchen."

"Wait, you found him on your couch?"

I nod. "Yeah."

I huge smile spreads across her face. "Do you think he subconsciously stayed here to make sure you were okay in the morning?"

I raise my eyebrows, taken aback by her suggestion. He wouldn't do that, would he? I barely knew him, and we've only had about three conversations so far. What those conversations were about is a little questionable, but still. He couldn't care about me that much already.

"No, I don't think so. He probably just passed out just like I did and Stefan forgot to bring him home or something."

"So then what happened after that?"

I take another deep breath. "Well, I offered him a ride home, and so I took him home. And then when we got there he asked me out to dinner."

Her jaw drops. "Oh my god! What did you say?"

"I said no."

She stomps her foot on the ground. "Elena Gilbert! Why would you do that? Is he not pretty enough for you?"

I sigh and lie back on the couch. My hands go up to my hair. "Ugh, I don't know. I just thought it was too soon."

"What happened to the Elena that would say yes to a date even if she just met a guy five minutes ago?"

I shrug. "It's just different with him, I guess. I get a good feeling when I'm around him. I've never felt like that with someone else."

"Not even when you were with Dylan?"

My stomach drops on his name. Caroline realizes that she shouldn't have said anything about him and gets uncomfortable. I drop my hands from my head, and really consider her question. "No, not even with Dylan."

She lets out a sigh of relief, probably thankful that I didn't yell at her. "So, what's different with him?"

I sit up and shrug. "I don't know."

"Well, that's why you have to find out! You have to go on that date with him."

I give her a disapproving look while trying to hide a smile. "I will eventually. I don't want to just yet."

"Why not?"

"I just don't."

* * *

It's been a week since that party at my house. I haven't talked to Damon at all, even though Caroline won't shut up about him. Matt and I talked about him and this whole thing and he told me all the same stuff Caroline did.

I'm bringing a family their dinners when I hear Jen behind me. "Elena, some guy asked to sit in your section," she tells me.

I nod and thank her as I set the dinners down on the table. I tell the family to enjoy their meal and turn around to see who this guy was. Maybe it's one of the guys, or maybe Alaric. Maybe even Stefan.

I walk and turn the corner to the other side of the restaurant, where I see Damon sitting at a round table, waiting for me. All of my earlier suspicious are clearly incorrect, but I don't mind. I may have even missed him a little this week.

I have decided to shove all the things Caroline told me about him out the window. I should make my own opinion before I make assumptions about him, right? And he seemed so eager to go on that date with me; it has to be something different.

My heart skips a beat as he smiles up at me. I give him a disapproving look and walk over to him. "Are you stalking me?" I ask him.

He grins. "What do you mean? I was around and saw you were open and came inside."

I take a deep breath. "Why are you really here?"

"I wanted to watch you work," he says and I freeze. His grin widens when he sees my reaction. "And, I wanted to invite you to my party tonight."

I smile and chuckle. "You really want to get going on these parties, huh?"

He nods. "Oh yes, then we'll only have two to go."

"I'll think about it," I tell him and take out my notepad. "Now, what can I get you?"

"You."

I look up at him. "Something edible."

"You."

I sigh. "Food wise."

"You."

"Oh my god," I sigh in frustration, but I can't help the humor in my voice. "Something that you can eat with silverware without causing blood to be drawn."

He smiles and closes the menu he has in front of him and hands it to me. "I'll have steak, medium."

"And to drink?"

He thinks for a moment. "I could say you again but I doubt you'll want to talk to me after that."

"You're disgusting," I say as I smile and walk away. Maybe I'll just surprise him.

I try to think of something he would like. I don't think he'd appreciate it if I brought him a soda. I can't even imagine a sex god like him drinking some cheap soda. Maybe I'll bring him a beer, but I have no idea what kind he likes. Maybe he doesn't even like beer. Maybe he's a wine guy. I can't even bring him wine because he probably has higher quality tastes than the crap we sell here. I've had it, and it's not bad. But that's me talking on a waitress salary.

I decide on bringing him a beer. I did eenie meenie minie mo before choosing the kind to bring to him. I walk over towards his table and set the beer down in front of him.

"You didn't spit in it, did you?"

"No," I mutter and walk away, hoping I got it right.

I keep working, feeling his eyes on me all the time. So much has changed since the last time he was here. The last time he was here, we hadn't kissed yet, and he hadn't been badgering me to go on a date with him. Now, the only reason he's here is because he wants to invite me to his party tonight… and watch me work.

He could have texted me the invitation.

I don't know if I should go tonight. Going would mean a lot more than it would to other people. This would mean I'm considering his offer of dinner. Well, of course I am considering it. Anyone would probably jump at the gun to go on a date with him.

I look over my shoulder at him. I get out of his view as I watch him sitting at his table. He checks his phone every few minutes, probably waiting a text from someone. He then picks up his head and looks around, probably for me. When he doesn't see me, his eyes narrow a bit and then he looks back down on his phone.

How had I not noticed how ridiculously adorable he was? And he's Stefan's brother for god's sake, of course he isn't going to kidnap me. And he's not going to just use me for sex, I know that. What's one date going to do to me?

I hear the ding that tells me his food is ready. Right when it does, Damon's head picks up and he looks around for me. I smile and wave to him and go get his food. I then bring it over to him and set it down on his table. "There you go," I say.

"Why thank you, Elena," he says and his eyes give away a mischievous glint. "Have you thought about tonight yet?"

"Not yet," I tell him. Teasing him was fun. I already did, of course but he doesn't know that. I already made my decision.

I walk away from his table and go over to take another person's order. When I see he had finished eating I bring him the check, desperate to get him out of here so I don't have to feel so nervous. "Here," I say. "And I'm not sure yet on the party thing."

"Why not?"

"Caroline and I might do something tonight." Lie.

He puts on a fake hurt face. "You'd rather hangout with Caroline than with me?"

I suck in my lips, trying not to smile. "Maybe."

"Why don't you bring her along with you?"

"Because, she might not want to go to your fancy schmancy party."

"Convince her."

I shake my head. "You can't convince that girl to do anything. She does what she wants and if she doesn't want to go to a party, she won't go."

"Tell her I'll set her up with one of my friends."

I sigh in aggravation. "That would leave me to be the third wheel. And she has a boyfriend."

"You wouldn't be a third wheel because you'd be with me," he says as he does that eye thing he always does. He wiggles his eyebrows and squints them.

"Oh really?"

He smiles and nods. "Oh yes."

We don't say anything to each other for a moment. We just look at each other, waiting for a reply from the other. "Her boyfriend can come too," he says.

"I have to get back to work," I tell him.

"Okay well, just in case you do decide to come, we'll be at the bar on Charles Street."

I stop in my tracks and walk back over to him. "Oh, so this isn't really a party. This is just hanging out at the bar."

"Well, I'm calling it a party so we can mark off one party on our 'three party' deal."

"I'll think about tonight. Now, I really have to get back to work."

I walk away from him and round the corner to take orders and serve food. When I turn the corner again, Damon is gone. I walk over to the table, pick up the money for the check and his tip. I stare wide-eyed at the hundred-dollar bill in front of me.

Holy shit. He's rich.

Ugh, he didn't need to give me such a big tip. I'm almost tempted to give it back to him and then realize that he would never take it back. I put it in with my other tips and get back to work.

My shift finally ends at ten. I clock out and head into the parking lot. I arrive home and take a quick shower so I don't smell like the diner. Once I'm out, I put on my makeup, blow dry my hair and curl it into waves. I then put on pair of teal high-waisted shorts and a black tank crop top that ends at the top of the shorts. I pull on a pair of black sandals and look at myself in the mirror once more before grabbing my purse and heading out.

It's going on eleven thirty when the taxi pulls up to the bar. Once I'm out, I take a big deep breath and then walk towards the entrance.

Once I enter the bar, almost every male turns to look at me. I roll my eyes and the girls give me dirty looks before hitting their boyfriends. I spot Damon in the corner. He's just looking at me with a crooked smile that makes me feel like the only girl in the world. I see Ric look at him and then he looks over at me. "Elena's here!"

I arrive at the table and set my purse down. "I'm here," I confirm.

"And I'm back with the shots," Stefan says as he sits them down on the table. "Elena! You're here!"

I smile at him. "Yeah! Stefan, I haven't talked to you in the longest time, how are you?"

He doesn't bother answering me. He picks me up into a big bear hug. I hug him back and giggle right before he sets me down.

"Hey, Stefan, I thought I told you to keep your hands to yourself. That's my girl," I hear Damon say behind us and my heart flutters. _His girl_.

Stefan ignores him. "I meant to talk to you last week but you were always talking with someone else."

I give him a look. "Stefan, you can interrupt me in any conversation any time."

We then all take a shot. "Yeah!" Ric yells.

"Where's Caroline?" Damon asks me.

I chuckle. "Caroline and I didn't have any plans tonight."

He rolls his eyes. "I should've figured you would have been difficult."

I smile and shrug. "I thought it was funny with how frustrated you got."

"Do you enjoy playing hard to get?"

My face bursts out into a huge smile and so does his. "Is that what you call it?"

He nods. "I think it's the appropriate term. I seem to be chasing after you a lot."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I say, feigning ignorance.

He just smiles and stares at me. "You still came, though."

I smile and nod. "I still came."

"So, is it just going to be the four of us then?" Stefan says as I take the seat next to Damon.

I look over to Damon. "You had me believing you were throwing a big party."

He shrugs. "Well, you know what they say. Two's company, three's a party."

I just smile at him as he looks down at me and takes a sip of his drink. "What's that?" I ask him.

"Bourbon. Want some?"

I think for a minute before taking the glass and taking a sip. I set it back down, feeling the burning sensation travel down my throat. I make a face. "That's so strong, how can you drink that?"

"He drinks that 24/7," Stefan says.

"How?" I ask him. "Your esophagus must hate you."

He chuckles. "I like it. It's not that bad."

Ric buys the next round. They all start talking about something uninteresting as we start to get drunk. Damon casually puts his arm around my chair. I try to pretend like it's no big deal, but inside I'm having a party. I lean back on my chair against his arm and he looks down at me quick, smiling slightly before returning to the conversation.

Six rounds of shots later, I'm up and out of my seat and dancing on the bar with two other girls. We're all having fun. Some people gather around the bar to watch us.

"I know what we should do!" I announce. "Karaoke!"

Everyone cheers and 'woos' as I tell the bartender to set everything up. "I'm going first," I tell one of the girls when it's all ready.

"No, let me," she says.

"No, no, I'm going first." We're both smiling and talking so lazily.

I tell the bartender to play Black Sheep by Gin Wigmore and I start to sing.

Everyone cheers for me, and I light up inside like I do for every performance. Some people sing along as I dance along the bar. While I'm up, I reach behind the bar, grab a bottle of vodka and took a sip as I sing the last lyrics.

Everyone claps and cheers and I jump off to let someone else go on. Some other girl jumps up. "No, I gotta have that girl up here with me, she was too good."

I smile and jump back up onto the bar. "What song are we singing?"

"How about If We Ever Meet Again by Timbaland?"

I nod and the bartender starts to play the song. She starts to sing the Timbaland parts and I sing the Katy Perry parts. I look over to our table and see all three of them rockin' out. I smile at the sight. They're all fist pumping with beers in hand, laughing. A warmth spreads through me while I watch Damon having fun.

When the song ends, suddenly everyone wants to sing with me. Twenty songs later, the bar starts to fill out. We're done with the karaoke and I'm just lying on the bar. I cause an inconvenience for some people, but I was too drunk to care. Some people try to hit on me, but I just brush them off.

Bored, I get off the bar and go to find Damon. He's in conversation with Stefan just when I grab his arm and pull him with me. "Dance with me," I tell him as I pull him onto the dance floor.

I kick off my shoes and Damon and I start to dance. I pull on his white Henley, pulling him against me. He looks down at me, his eyes growing darker by the second. We start to dance just as an upbeat song came up. We don't talk verbally, only with our eyes.

We dance until we get tired. When we get tired, we make our way back to the table. I sit down on his lap. Stefan is with someone at the bar, and Ric is nowhere to be found.

Damon is slowly brushing the hair off my face, and I feel his lips on the top of my head. I smile. "You're a good dancer," he tells me.

I shrug. "I learned a few things in college."

He chuckles with me. "I don't know if I can wait for two more parties, Elena."

"Are you just trying to use me for sex?" I say lazily, not even realizing what I just blurted out. I really need to work on that brain to mouth filter.

He leans down and tilts his head to look at me. "You've been talking to Stefan, haven't you?"

I shake my head. "No, I've been talking to Caroline. Stefan told her that like a year ago when you weren't even here."

He sighs and leans back. "No, I'd never do that to you. You're a girl I want to have a relationship with. As much as you like to party and all that jazz, you'd never be that girl who goes into a man's bed and leaves in the morning. You'll always be a relationship girl. At least that's what I think."

I smile at his answer and he drags his fingertips along my cheek. I sigh in defeat. "If you promise not to kidnap me, we can go out sometime this week."

I feel him chuckle. "I promise."

I hold out my pinky. "Pinky promise?"

He takes my pinky with his and we lock them together. "I pinky promise."

"Is this going to be a date?" I ask him. I then realize that I really am no longer filtering anything coming out of my mouth in my drunken state.

"I hope so."

I smile and snuggle closer to his chest. "What am I supposed to wear?"

I feel him shrug. "I don't even know where we're going yet."

"Well once you know, you let me know."

I feel his lips on the top of my head again. "I will."

* * *

**Please review!**

**Xoxo**

**Em**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hi everybody! Thanks for all of the reviews, follows and favorites. I can't tell you how much I appreciate them! **

**Did you all watch TVD last night? I know I did! & LOVED all the Delena scenes!**

**I'm not too sure on this chapter, but I hope you all enjoy it!**

* * *

"Jeremy, you're a little fatty," I mutter.

Jeremy is rummaging through my pantry for something to eat, as always. He rolls his eyes. "I know, you've told me dozens of times."

"I don't think there's a time where I have seen you not eating," Tyler says.

"I get hungry, okay?"

"How have you been spending those calories so quick?" Tyler asks.

Jeremy throws his head back and laughs. "You already know how, you don't need to repeat it to everyone."

"Oh my god," I say as I cover my face in my hands, trying to shake the image of a naked Jeremy out of my head.

"See, she gets it," Tyler says, laughing.

Jeremy takes an orange out of the fridge and throws it at Tyler. Tyler catches it with his hand and throws it on the floor. "You must have forgotten I play baseball."

Jeremy makes a face and turns back to rummage through the fridge some more.

"So, when's our next gig?" Matt asks.

Everyone looks to me. I'm the one who keeps track of the dates and gigs. If it weren't for me they'd have no idea what they're doing. "This Saturday we're playing at another fundraiser for some bridge."

"Great. That's really only how we make our money. We're asked to play at every fundraiser and more."

I shrug. "At least we get paid for doing something we love."

Ben reaches behind him and grabs his guitar. He starts to play random things as Steven comes back over and sits in his chair.

"Did you guys know Elena has a date tonight?" Matt announces.

I roll my eyes. "What?!" Jeremy yells with a smile. "With who?"

"Damon," Matt says in a mock girly voice.

I throw a pillow at him. "I don't sound like that."

Matt laughs and rolls his eyes. "Yeah, okay."

"Is Damon the guy who had his tongue down your throat at the party?" Tyler asks. He stops playing and looks over at me.

"Yeah, I guess you can put it that way."

No one speaks for a moment. Everyone is just taking in the fact that I was going on a date. Why they're making a big deal out of it, I don't know. It's just a date.

"So, what are you going to wear?" Tyler asks, laughing.

I throw a pillow at him. "Shut up, Ty!"

"Maybe a nice dress?" Jeremy suggests.

Matt shakes his head, a contemplating look on his face. "No, I think sweatpants would be appropriate."

"Maybe a ball gown," Tyler joins in.

I cross my arms over my chest. "I hate all of you."

"Hey, look at it this way. It's a win-win situation for all of us. If the date goes well, you'll be happy, and if it doesn't, we get to beat someone up tonight," Jeremy says. They all agree and start talking about what would happen if they actually did get to beat him up.

I sigh in exasperation. "You guys are not going to beat him up!"

"Oh come on. We can't let anyone hurt our little Lena," Matt says.

"Do you like him, Lena?" Tyler asks me, trying not to laugh.

I hold my hand out, hoping to stop him. "Nope, I am not having this conversation with you guys."

"Why not? Remember what happened with Dylan? We got to beat him up for you."

"I swear you guys are so overprotective."

Matt puts his hand on my knee. "We're just looking out for you, Lena."

They all nod their heads in sincerity. "Yeah, we love you, Lena," Jeremy says.

I take a deep breath and smile. As much as they annoy me, I still love them. "You guys are the best."

* * *

My hair is in waves going down my back, my bangs in place. My face is made up with makeup, my lips a dark pink. Damon told me to not dress up for anything special, but to dress up a little. I pull on a navy hi-lo blue dress that has small gold polka dots all over it and pair of gold sandal heels.

Damon told me he'd be here at eight, but hadn't told me where we were going. He said he wanted it to be a surprise. Even after I tried to beg it out of him, he still wouldn't tell me. All it got me was a compliment on how cute I was and him threatening to cancel everything if I asked him again.

Neither of us wanted that.

It's five minutes after eight when I hear a knock at the door. I take a deep breath before opening the door. When Damon comes into view, I gasp softly.

Damon is standing outside my door, wearing tan pants and a white button up shirt that's open enough on the top to see some of his chest. I hear him gasp as if the air was knocked out of him when he sees me. His blue eyes are bright and they slowly roam over my body. When he looks me in the eyes finally, I see a mixture of emotions flood through him. He looks so perfect and I almost can't believe that this is the man who has been asking me for a date for the past two weeks.

He's holding a bouquet of brightly colored flowers. He's just staring at me, totally lost for words when he reaches up to touch the side of my face. "Hi," he says.

I smile and lean into his hand. "Hi yourself."

He removes his hand and then hands me the bouquet. "These are for you."

My smile widens. "Thank you." I take them from him and smell them. He watches me and I see his eyes darken. "They smell great. Let me go put them in a vase quick."

I let him inside as I go in search for a vase. I'm not even sure I have a vase. "You're apartment looks good when it's not covered in red cups," I hear him say as he closes the door behind us.

I roll my eyes. "I decided to redecorate."

He chuckles as I find a vase hidden behind all the cups and plates that are only pulled out for special occasions. I quickly fill the vase with water and put the flowers inside, arranging them so they fit nicely. I put them in the middle of my dining room table.

When I look back to Damon, I see he's watching me. I flush under his intense gaze and he shakes his head, trying to clear his mind of something. "Ready to go?"

I nod and we head out the door. We begin to walk to the elevator in silence. Damon pushes the button and looks down on me as we wait. "You look beautiful, by the way."

I smile. "Thank you."

The elevator arrives and we step inside. Damon presses the button for the bottom floor. "So where are we going?" I ask him.

He looks over at me, trying to hide his smile. "I thought I told you to not ask me again."

"Well since here we are now, I thought I could know."

He pretends to zipper his lips and throws the key away. I tilt my head to the side and walk over towards him. "C'mon, you know you want to tell me."

His face remains impassive. "Nope."

The elevator makes it to the ground floor and Damon quickly walks out, probably trying to get away from me so I don't try to ask him again. "Can I at least have a hint?" I call out after him.

"Nope."

I run towards him, catching up to his side. "Can you tell me what the first letter of the name of it is?"

He shakes his head, clearly enjoying this game. We walk towards the street and Damon calls a cab. Once one arrives, we slide in the backseat. Damon whispers the address in the cab drivers ear and then sits back next to me, putting his arm around my shoulders.

"Are you excited?" he asks me.

I nod. "Yes, but I'd be even more excited if you told me where we're going."

"You're so exhausting," he says as he sighs. "We're going to a restaurant."

I think for a minute, pursing my lips. "Hmm, I guess I'm excited for that. I get free food."

He looks over at me, humor in his eyes. "Is that the only reason you're coming on this date? Free food?"

"This is a date?" I ask, feigning innocence. "Mr. Salvatore, do you like me?"

His eyes brighten and he smiles. "Very much so."

"What made me catch your attention?"

"The way you can sing the hell out of a song."

I smile and look away from him and out the windshield in front of us. The driver pulls up in front of a restaurant called Gramercy Tavern. "That's the big secret? Gramercy Tavern?"

"Have you ever been here before?"

I think for a moment and then shake my head no. In fact I've never even heard of it before. He smiles, like he already knew the answer before he even asked it. "This is one of the most expensive and popular restaurants in New York City."

I widen my eyes and my jaw drops. No, this isn't okay. I know he's rich and all but he can't bring me to some very high quality restaurant and expect me to be okay with it. "No, we have to go somewhere else. I'm not going to let you blow your wad on some dinner to try to impress me. You'd impress me if we just pulled in through a Burger King."

He rolls his eyes. "C'mon, Elena. I can definitely afford it, and I'd rather spend my whole 'wad' on you over dinner than anything else."

I shake my head. "Nope, bring me to a diner or something."

He sighs, getting aggravated again. "Can't you just forget what I said? This is just another restaurant in New York City."

I don't say anything. I just sit there with my arms across my chest, refusing to move.

"Alright, how about this. You can come willingly or I'll pick you up over my shoulder and bring you in there myself."

I picture Damon trying to pick me up over his shoulder. I'd probably be screaming and yelling for him to put me down and into the restaurant and then I'd embarrass us…

"Fine," I mutter and he puts on his signature smirk. He pays the driver then gets out, offering his hand to me. I don't take it and he grins. He closes the car door and runs up to try to catch up with me.

"Wipe the smile off your face, let's just get this over with," I say as he opens the restaurant door for me.

He chuckles. "This isn't even the surprise. This is the dinner before the surprise."

I roll my eyes and sigh. "You better not have spent any more money on the actual surprise."

"Oh, don't worry I didn't spend much."

"So you did spend some money."

"Yes."

"You're going to be so broke by the end of this."

"Oh, Elena. You don't even know."

Damon tells the host his last name and he quickly pulls up our reservations that Damon must have made. The host places us in a booth in a quiet corner, hands us the menus and asks for our drink orders. Damon orders a whole bottle of wine. "Are you planning on getting me drunk, Mr. Salvatore?" I ask him as soon as the host walks away.

He smiles his crooked smile that makes my heartbeat quicken and my stomach fill with butterflies. "You can't get drunk off a bottle of wine."

I shrug. "Maybe you're trying to get me drunk later. You _are_ trying to kidnap me, aren't you?"

"I thought we pinky promised that I wasn't."

"Well, you might go back on your promise and forever be a traitor."

"Just figure out what you want to eat," he says and looks back down at the menu.

As I flip through, I purse my lips, unsure of what I want. I look up when I feel Damon's gaze on me. He then mocks me and purses his own lips. "Shut up," I mutter.

"I can't, you're too adorable."

My stomach fills with butterflies and I smile. I look back down at the menu just as our waitress comes by with the bottle of wine Damon asked for and two glasses. The waitress fills a little in Damon's glass, and he takes a sip before telling her that it's fine. She then fills up both of our glasses and sits the bottle at the end of our table. She then takes our orders before walking away.

When she's gone, I lean back in my seat, crossing my legs under the table. Damon leans forward and puts his hands over his mouth. "So, what else do you do besides singing and waitressing?"

"Nothing right now. I went to college for four years and got a bachelor's degree in English."

He smiles and removes his hands from his mouth. "What are you planning on doing with that?"

I shrug. "When I was little I used to want to be a writer. I'd make all these little short stories and read them to people."

"You don't want to be a writer now?"

I shrug again. "I don't really know. I want to and then I sort of want to just keep playing our music and singing. Maybe I could be a famous singer but I don't think that'll ever happen."

His facial expression softens. "You never know until you try, Elena. Maybe you should start writing some of your own songs and start playing them at your shows."

"Oh, I've written tons of songs. Jeremy, Tyler, Matt and I wrote some together. They all voted for playing them but I'm too nervous to."

"And why is that?"

"Because what if they're bad? I don't want someone to think like 'oh, what is this shit' and then leave."

He gives me a disapproving look. "They can't be that bad. You should give yourself some more credit. You could show them to me and I'll tell you if they're good or not," he suggests.

I think about it for a second before I shake my head. "No, I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"Because what if you think they're bad? You'll have to lie to my face."

He smirks and shakes his head. "I don't lie. I don't beat around the bush, and I don't sugar coat things. I guess you don't have to show me them, but you should at least give one of them a try."

His words sink in as I process them. I could give it a try. I mean, if I'm ever going to become some famous rock star I'd have to have some of my own songs.

"Enough about me," I say, trying to change the topic. "What do you do?"

"I own a business. It's not that interesting."

My mind flashes back to his very generous tip from last Saturday. "Not very interesting? You must be loaded with cash. Don't think I forgot that tip from Saturday."

He shrugs. "It wasn't that much."

I stare at him wide-eyed. "It is for a tip. At least to a normal person."

"I'm not normal?"

"Well, not everyone has hundred-dollar bills to hand to their brunette waitress."

He grins. "A cute brunette waitress."

I roll my eyes. He never fails to call me cute in any conversation. "How long were you away from here?"

"Five years."

"Where did you go?"

"Nowhere. Everywhere. The main reason for the trip was to set up a new branch of the company up in Vegas. I spent four years there trying to get everything ready then I just kind of went off on my own for a year and worked from different places of the world."

"Like where?"

"Europe, Asia, South America."

Holy shit, would I kill for a whole year vacation going to all those different places. I can't even afford to go on one vacation. "Just by yourself?"

His mouth hardens and I can tell he doesn't want to say any more. "I found company." And just by that, I know what he really means.

"How long have you been home?"

"About two months."

How have I not seen him before? I have been with Stefan within those two months and he hadn't mentioned a thing about Damon. I mean it's a big city and all, and there is a way for me to have never seen him before, but why didn't Stefan say anything about him?

"Stefan didn't say anything about you."

"He doesn't like to brag," he says with a smile. I lean in closer to him and put my hands on the table. "He actually didn't know I was here until two weeks ago."

Well still, he never said anything about him. What does that say about Stefan? Is he ashamed of him or something? I don't think so. At least not with the way they were acting towards each other the other night at the bar.

I'm about to say something more just when the waitress comes with our food. She sets it down in front of us, and I notice her try to get Damon's attention. "Is there anything else I can get you?" she asks him and only him. Rude.

He keeps his eyes trained on me and doesn't even look at her. "No thank you," he says. I look back at him, his eyes getting a darker blue by the minute. Just the expression on his face makes me feel like a thousand bucks. I don't even notice the waitress leaving.

We start eating in silence at first, but it wasn't an awkward silence. He breaks the silence a few moments later. "What's your family like?" he asks me.

"I'm an only child, and my parents died about six years ago."

I wait for a response, and when I realize I'm not getting one, I look up at him. He's staring at me wide-eyed. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

I shrug. "It's okay. It was a while ago."

He nods. "How did they die?"

"Car accident," I answer. "They were killed instantly."

I'm about to ask him about his parents when I remember Stefan telling me that his parents were dead to. He said his father was shot and his mother died of sickness.

"Stefan told me about your parents," I say and his eyes sadden.

He nods. "I was ten when my mother died and eighteen when my father died."

I reach out for his hand. He looks at our hands together, and begins to rub his thumb on mine. "I'm sorry," I say.

He looks up at me with the sad eyes that I'm sure I'm wearing too. It seems as if he let his guard down for me. I have never seen him like this before. It gives me a warm feeling, knowing that he's willing to open up to me.

"I normally don't tell people that," he says, a confused look on his face. Why me then?

I smile sadly. "I don't either."

We quickly change the topic to happier things, and soon we're both laughing again. He's telling me stories about Stefan from when they were kids. Some of the stories I have heard before from Stefan, but it's nice to hear them from a different point of view.

When we finish eating, the waitress comes and asks if we want dessert. Damon quickly declines and pays the tab.

I try to look over to see what the price is so I can get an idea of how much to pay him back. He notices me looking over and he shuts the black book quickly. "I'm sorry, did you want to pay?"

"I just want to see."

He shakes his head and puts his credit card inside, only opening the book a little for him to see only. "Nope, I'm not going to let you feel guilty about this."

"Is there something to feel guilty of?"

"Absolutely not. It wasn't even that much anyway."

Yeah. Not much to him could probably mean a thousand bucks. Though I'm almost positive our dinner couldn't have possibly been that much.

The waitress comes by, takes the book and comes back with a receipt and his credit card. Damon signs the receipt on the booth so I can't see what it says. He hands it back to the waitress. I notice her wink at him but he doesn't see.

He gets out of his booth and holds his hand out to me. "Ready?"

I smile and nod and take his hand. We're both smiling on the way out of the restaurant and as he tries to hail a taxi for us. One comes for us immediately and we climb into the back seat, Damon once again whispering the address in the driver's ear.

"So, about this surprise," I say when we start driving.

"I'm not saying a word."

"Not even just a teeny tiny little hint?"

He shakes his head. "Nope, not a chance. I'm not budging on this."

I cross my arms over my chest. "Is this the part where you kidnap me? You're kidnapping me. You're really doing it."

He smiles. "You're really making me consider it, Elena."

"Oh yeah? Where would you keep me hostage?"

He thinks for a moment. "Somewhere far away from everyone so I can just have you to myself."

I gasp and my heart beat quickens. He smiles down at me, already knowing how affected I am of him. I burst into a smile and he takes my hand. My whole body immediately warms at his touch, and I can tell he feels it too. He lightly skims his thumb along the back of my hand.

The taxi driver pulls into a parking lot for the beach. "The beach?" I question.

He half smiles. "Well, dessert on the beach."

I smile big for him, and realize that this is perfect. It doesn't matter if we're just at the beach. I'll be with him eating dessert and listening to the crashing of the waves.

I look at him, my eyes full of emotion. "This is perfect."

He looks completely satisfied and releases a sigh of relief. He was nervous about this? Did he think I wasn't going to like this? I love the beach.

We both get out of the taxi after Damon pays the driver. We make our way down to the beach where there's a big blanket laid out on the sand and a picnic basket on one of the corners. I gasp as I realize the effort Damon probably went through to make this special. He's looking down at me, waiting for a reaction. "Damon," I whisper, completely lost for words. I can't imagine a more perfect place to spend the night with him.

He smiles softly down on me, his eyes displaying more emotion than his face. He takes my hand and we walk over and sit down on the blanket. I take off my shoes as he begins to light candles around the blanket. "So, what's in the basket?"

He opens it up. "Tiramisu and chocolate covered strawberries."

My eyes light up. "My favorites."

Damon begins to cut up the cake and hands me a piece. He slices a piece for himself and we both start eating, falling into a smooth conversation.

At some point, I don't know what devil caused him to ask it, but he asks me about one of my worst gig experiences. Once I tell him he almost spurts out his cake from laughter. "You what?!" he exclaims.

"I fall over on stage all the time, but I don't know, I just fell right off the stage."

He starts laughing hysterically and I join along with him. "I would pay big money to see that happen. I can imagine you, getting all embarrassed and having to keep singing."

"Jeremy, Matt and Tyler were all laughing so hard that they had to stop playing and I was laughing so hard I had to stop singing! I'm sure there's probably a video somewhere on the internet."

His eyes widen and brighten as he reaches into his pocket and grabs his phone. "It better be on YouTube."

My jaw drops and I try to take the phone away from him. "No! Don't look it up!"

We both quickly get up and I start to chase him while he tries to search it. "Here it is!" he said and pressed the video.

"Oh my god, please Damon! Don't watch it!"

I stop fighting him as I watch it along with him, and then there I am, falling off the stage. Damon starts laughing so hard, he has tears coming out of his eyes. I'm laughing too but not as hard as him. "That's the funniest thing I've ever seen in the world. You're so clumsy."

I cross my arms over my chest and walk back over to the blanket. "Oh, come on, Elena," I hear him say behind me. "You would have wanted to watch the video if I fell off the stage."

He got me there. I'm about to sit down when I see he's beginning to undo his belt. I halt in my tracks. "What are you doing?"

He rolls his eyes, obviously thinking what I think he's thinking. "Going for a swim. I'm not going to let this ocean go to waste."

When his shirt falls off of him, I gasp. His chest is so smooth and perfect and I just want to touch it. I remember the morning after the party two weeks ago I saw his back muscles through his thin t-shirt and how much I wanted to see the real thing.

Well, here's my chance.

When he strips down to his boxers, he looks at me. "Are you coming?"

I look away from him and into the ocean and sigh. I so desperately want to go in with him, but I'm afraid of what it'll actually mean. Us swimming together in the dark, is that step too far on the first date?

Come on Elena, it's hardly a first date. You've already made out with him too many count.

Alright fine, I'll go swimming with him but not in this dress. I'm going to have to swim with him in my underwear. Of course.

I pull my dress over my head, grateful of the matching black lace bra and underwear I'm wearing. Once I toss my dress on the ground, I look over at him. He's already charging over to me. I scream as he puts me over his shoulder. "Put me down!" I scream, laughing hysterically while trying to get free.

"Not until you're wet." I can actually feel him wolfishly grinning. Soon, his feet are in the water, and he throws me into the ocean.

I scream and once I'm submerged, I quickly come back up for air. I turn and look at Damon, who's laughing hysterically. "What the hell was that for?"

"You needed to get wet," he says, still laughing.

I try to swim back to shore, and once I can touch the bottom, I wipe my eyes and the remains of my makeup. If I had known we were coming here I would have worn waterproof makeup.

Oh, great. Now Damon's going to have a front row seat to my face with no makeup.

He comes running towards me and I scream and try to swim away. He chases after me and catches me by my waist, pulling me to him.

After a half hour of swimming and splashing, I run out of the water, Damon chasing after me. "Damon, stop chasing me! I'll run to your apartment right now and roll over everything in it so it'll all be wet."

He stops chasing me. "You'd be dry by the time you got there."

I shrug. "I don't know I'm a pretty fast runner."

I then start running away from him and towards the parking lot, but I'm too slow. He already catches me around my waist. "No!" I say and struggle to try to break free. I feel him laugh and he brings me back to the blanket. He deposits me down onto it and lies down next to me. Our laughter ceases to an end and then we're both silent for a few minutes, looking up at the stars.

"I'm so glad you hadn't made me wait for two more parties."

I chuckle. "That one 'party' you had on Saturday was barely called a party. That was just hanging out at the bar."

"Well, there were four of us. That's a party."

I scoff and smile. "I'm glad I didn't make you wait either."

He looks over at me. "Do you think we could ever be together?"

My stomach drops. I look over at him. His eyes are full of sincerity. What the hell? "How much wine did you drink at the restaurant?"

"Not much."

"Well then, what kind of question is that?"

"One that I want you to answer."

"Who asks that on a first date?"

"I just did. Just answer it."

I look away from him and up into the sky. "I don't know, maybe."

I look over at him to see he's smiling. "It's just been so long since I've been in a relationship, though," I continue.

He cocks his head to the side. "What happened with your last one?"

I take a deep breath. "Dylan thought I was too boring and went and got another girl to satisfy his time away from me."

"He cheated on you?"

I nod. "Yeah. Since, then I've tried to stay away from relationships."

I roll onto my side to face him. He does the same. "Well, he must be stupid. I don't know why anyone would cheat on you and think you're boring."

"You don't think I'm boring?"

He shakes his head harshly with a frown. "I think you're so full of life, anyone would be stupid not want to be in a relationship with you."

"Yeah well, you have to say that."

"I told you earlier, Elena, that I never lie." His hand reaches out and caresses my cheek, his thumb running down my cheek, leaving my skin feeling tingly. "I would never cheat on you."

I look down at his hand and back to his eyes. "You wouldn't know what you were getting yourself into if you were in a relationship with me."

He narrows his eyebrows, his cheek still going across my cheek. "I would know exactly what I would be getting myself into. I would be going into a relationship with a fun, beautiful girl."

My heart stops at his words and my stomach fills with butterflies. How on earth does this beautiful man want a relationship with me? "You are very sweet," I tell him.

"I mean it," he says and drops his hand and drops the subject.

A little while later, we get dressed back in our clothes. Our undergarments are still a little wet, but it doesn't matter. Damon calls the taxi service to come pick us up. While we wait, Damon picks everything up, not letting me help him at all. When the taxi arrives, we walk hand in hand back to the car. He doesn't whisper in the taxi driver's ear this time. He tells him the address of my apartment and the driver starts to drive in that direction.

"How did you get everything set up without thinking people would come and eat our dessert?" I ask him.

He smirks. "I had Stefan come by and set everything up as soon as we were out of the restaurant."

"He didn't mind?"

"Well, he did a little, but I told him he could have our leftovers and then he quickly said yes."

"Did you make the tiramisu?"

He nods. "Yep."

"That was probably the best tiramisu I've ever had."

"Oh stop," he says with a smile.

I look at the time and see that it's well past midnight. I'm just glad I don't have to do anything tomorrow.

Damon insists on walking me back up to my apartment, telling me he doesn't want me to get kidnapped on the way up. "It's your last chance to kidnap me, you know," I tell him as we get out onto my floor.

"Miss. Elena, is that an invitation?"

I sigh. "No, definitely not."

He wiggles his eyebrows. "Hm, I don't know. You seem all too willing. What is that thing you get when you fall in love with your kidnapper? Stockholm syndrome?"

I look back at him. "Who said anything about falling in love with you?"

"I did, because I know you will someday."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because you won't be able to resist my charm and boyish looks."

"You're very cocky, you know that?" I tell him as we both turn to look at each other in front of my apartment door.

"I know. You've told me before."

I smile. "I had a fun time tonight."

He smiles back at me. "I did too."

"Thank you for everything. It was the most extravagant and fun date I've ever been on. It was very sweet of you and I appreciate all the time and planning you put into this."

He does that half smile and picks up his hand to caress my face. "My pleasure."

I don't say anything while he just stares down at me, both of us with smiles on our faces. "When can I see you again?"

I think for a moment, pursing my lips. "Well, we're playing at the fundraiser on Saturday. Are you going?"

He nods. "I was planning on just making my donation and then leaving, but now I think I'll stay a while."

I smile. "Maybe we could do something after with everyone."

"I'd like that."

He brushes a piece of hair away from my face and then looks down at his feet, shifting his weight. Is he nervous about something? "This Friday I have a charity dinner to go to."

My heartbeat quickens when I begin to get the idea of what he's asking. "Oh?"

He looks back up at me, square in the eyes. "Would you like to be my date and help me through this boring evening?"

I smile widely and nod my head. "Of course I will. I'd love to."

He smiles, relieved and accomplished with himself. He reaches up to tuck a piece of hair behind my ear and then caresses my face with boy of his hands. We just stare at each other until finally Damon leans down and presses his lips to mine.

It's a sweet and slow kiss, but still gives me butterflies. All too soon, he pulls away. He looks down at me with soft eyes. "Goodnight."

I smile softly. "Goodnight."

I begin to open the door to my apartment, as he starts walking backwards down the hall with a smirk on his face. Once I'm through the door, he turns around and walks away.

I close the door behind me and start to take off my shoes. A slow smile spreads on my face as I realize something. That was our first sober kiss.

* * *

**A/N: Tell me your favorite song and I'll have Elena sing it at the concert coming up!**

**Please review!**

**See you next week**

**Xoxo Em**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: So so sorry I haven't updated in a while! I've been busy this weekend and hardly had time to write until today. I'm not sure about this chapter. I feel like I wrote it too quick and we're not getting really any action yet, but this chapter is important in the long run. Just bear with me for right now. I can promise you we'll be getting some DEx in the next chapter!**

**Happy reading**

* * *

It's been two days since our date. The charity dinner is tomorrow and I've been texting Damon about it since our date. He's not very forthcoming with information.

At this point, I have no idea what to wear, nothing _to_ wear, and in desperate need for a shopping trip with my trusty best friend.

I've asked Damon where the dinner is, what time it's at, what I should wear, and all he's giving me is vague answers. He's just told me that he's going to pick me up at eight, he's wearing a suit, and it's at a restaurant somewhere out of town. This is where I asked him if he was kidnapping me again and he said that he was.

Sometimes I just wish I was into girls so I could actually get straight answers for once. Men.

I text Caroline to see if she wants to go on a shopping trip. She's at my apartment in less than ten minutes. I hear a knock at the door. I groan but then eventually get up to go get it. When I open the door, Caroline is standing there with an excited look on her face. "Tell me everything!"

She walks in and I shut the door behind her. "I'm surprised I haven't heard from you sooner. Our date was two days ago."

She shrugs and sits down on the couch. "I was busy."

"Busy doing what?"

"Oh, just Klaus stuff. Nothing to worry about. We're not talking about me right now, we're talking about you. Tell me exactly what happened!"

I sigh and go to sit next to her. She's definitely not getting off that easy. Once I tell her all about this, we're going to talk about whatever's on her mind. "Well he picked me up and gave me flowers. We went to Gramercy Tavern where we talked and had wine and then he took me to the beach and we had tiramisu and chocolate covered strawberries."

She looks at me, her face pleading for more. "Oh come on, Elena. Details!"

I sigh and jump right into it. I tell her every single word and thought we had over dinner, emphasizing it at some parts. I go into great detail telling her when we went swimming and we were both squealing by then. "He asked me to go to a charity dinner with him tomorrow."

She widens her eyes and grins. "Oh my god! What are you going to wear?"

I shrug. "I have no idea, that's why I asked you to come shopping with me."

"Well, never fear. We're going to make you look so hot tomorrow, Damon won't be looking at anyone else."

I sigh. "Yeah, well he's going to have to talk to different people so he's going to have to look at other people."

She rolls her eyes. "That doesn't mean he has to look at them. Now get up and get ready."

I'm already dressed in shorts and a black t-shirt, my hair in waves and my makeup done. I don't know what part of ready that I'm not showing. "I am ready."

"Um, are you going barefoot? Are you bringing a bag? At least a wallet?"

I sigh and get up, throwing on a pair of flip flops and grab my purse. "Okay, let's go."

* * *

We're walking down Manhattan, window shopping and looking through little boutiques. Caroline has tried to avoid talking about whatever is bothering her so many times I've lost count. I've tried to hint at it and get her to talk about it and she just brushes it off and doesn't even acknowledge it.

I decide to ask her straight on. "So what's up with you and Klaus?"

She sighs, defeated and knowing she'll have to answer me. "Nothing."

I roll my eyes. "Okay, Caroline. Either you can willingly tell me or I'll force it out of you."

"Yeah? Like how?"

I shrug. "I don't know, maybe I'll sneak into your apartment, steal one of your purses or maybe a pair of shoes without telling you which one, and then you'll be forced to-"

"Okay fine! I'll tell you."

She takes a deep breath before continuing. "He's just been so distant lately. I feel like I'm doing everything wrong. He hardly comes over and only texts me instead of calling me. We fight over the littlest things and I just don't know what to do about it. You don't think he's cheating on me, do you?"

I raise an eyebrow. "Cheat on you? I sincerely doubt it. If he has half a brain he'd never cheat on you of all people considering what you'd do once you found out."

She sighs and fists her hair in her hands. "Then what's his problem? Does he not like me anymore?"

I shrug. "It's probably nothing to worry about. Just ask him what his problem is."

"But I feel like if I do that he's going to get mad at me and ask me why I think there's a problem then we'll get into a huge fight and- oh my god! Look at that dress in there!"

I turn to where she's pointing and see a dress on a mannequin in the window of a boutique.

All thoughts from our conversation leave my brain when I look at it. I imagine me in it, and then imagine Damon looking at me in it. "That's it, Elena. Damon is going to be so blown away by you. He'll have no idea what you have in store for him."

I smile. I look at her and then back at the dress. "Well, let's go try it on."

* * *

It's seven forty-five when I'm finally dressed and ready. My hair is in waves, my eye makeup a smoky brown color with dark pink colored lips. I'm wearing the dress Caroline and I got yesterday, its light blue color doing wonders for my skin tone. It's lace on the top and then goes out to a skirt going halfway up my thigh that's separated with the top with a light blue ribbon. The skirt is blue and light blue strips, zigzagging their way around with a black pattern. On the left side, the skirt is pinned aside to reveal a dark blue floral pattern underneath the skirt. It's perfect and perfect for the occasion. I just can't wait for Damon to see me in it.

I put on a pair of silver sparkle heels and grab a silver clutch. Caroline has already been here earlier, helping me with my makeup and hair. I told her to get lost about a half hour ago when she offered to help me into my dress. I can get into my own damn dress.

I'm left wandering around my house for the next fifteen minutes, waiting for Damon to arrive. I shouldn't have rushed so much. I wouldn't have all this time left on my hands to get nervous. What is there to be nervous about anyway? Damon and I are just going to a dinner to talk to fancy rich people that Damon knows and I have absolutely no idea who they are, and donate money to a charity that Damon has yet to tell me.

Men.

There is actually a part to be nervous about. The Damon part. He's been texting me nonstop since our date and calls me every night, telling me he can't wait for Friday and tells me goodnight when I start to get tired. He's been so sweet to me, and I almost want to go for more.

Almost.

My heart beat quickens when I hear a knock at the door. I look at the time and see that it's five minutes after eight. I take a deep breath before standing and walking to the door. When I open it, I see Damon leaning against the doorway, looking sexy as ever, with a smirk on his face. "You're not going to yell at me for being late, are you?"

I smile like an idiot and so does he. "Oh yeah. You're in big trouble. I mean, five minutes? I was almost beginning to think you were going to stand me up."

His smile widens and then his face drops when he takes in the look of me. His eyes slowly roam over each and every part of my body, lingering on my legs and then he looks back at my eyes. "Elena, you look… wow."

I smile. "So do you."

"I almost want you to change so no one else gets to see you like this."

"That's selfish," I say, chuckling.

"Well, I'm just glad you're coming with me so every other male can be jealous that you're with me and not with them."

"Cocky bastard," I mutter and get my clutch. I meet him in the hallway with him, grinning like an idiot. I lock the door behind us. He grabs my hand while we're walking to the elevators and he presses the button. "I'm so glad you're coming with me."

I take a deep breath. "Well, I've never been to one of these things before so you'll have to bear with me."

He shrugs. "It's okay. You're just here for arm candy," he says as he walks into the elevator and I hit him on his shoulder.

He just laughs and rubs the spot I hit. "Ow! Damn girl, you've got an arm."

I roll my eyes and smile. He steps in front of me, all seriousness and takes my face in-between his hands. "I'm just kidding. You're more than just arm candy, even though you make very good arm candy. Just stay by my side all night and you'll be fine."

"I won't know anyone there."

"You'll know me. And Stefan might come."

"Yeah, but still."

He releases his hands from my face and takes both my hands and pulls them up to his chest. "I don't even know half the people there. Don't sweat it."

I smile and he leans down to kiss me. I relax into him and mold my lips against his. I feel his smile as he releases my hands and grips me to him. My whole body heats against his.

The elevator dings, indicating we're at the ground floor. We pull away from each other and look over to see Mrs. Smith, my neighbor back from a long vacation, waiting to get on the elevator.

We jump away from each other, Damon keeping hold of my hand. He pulls me along while I say hi to her. She seems embarrassed and just says hi back.

Damon's laughing at me. "What?" I mutter.

"That's probably never happened to me before."

I raise an eyebrow at him as he tries to hail a taxi. "Really? Never?"

He shakes his head. "Nope. Has it ever happened to you?"

I close my eyes and smile. Damon automatically knows that it has happened to me before. "Where? With who?"

I open my eyes and see he's smiling. "I'm not going to tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because you'll get mad."

"I promise I won't, Lena."

A taxi comes and we climb inside. Damon gives the driver the address and then turns to me. "So?"

I don't say anything. I just suck in my lips, trying not to smile. His smile widens. "Come on. Tell me so I can beat whoever it was into a pulp."

I smile wide at the thought of him beating up Dylan, and just at the thought of him trying to claim me. Dylan was already beat up by my boys; I don't need another one of my boys beating him up. "Nope, I'm not telling you."

He tries to get me to tell him for the rest of the way to the restaurant. When we arrive, someone opens our door and we step out. "Our conversation isn't over."

"Damon, it's been long over."

He smiles a wicked smile and takes my hand as we walk up to the entrance.

Half the night passes by in a blur. I've just stayed by Damon's side, his arm wrapped around me or his hand in mine as he talks to his business partners and I talk to their dates. When asked how I know Damon or if we were dating I always say we're just friends. Whenever I say that, Damon looks down at me with a smirk on his face.

They announce dinner and we all go to our specified table. When we arrive at our table, we sit in the spots with our name tags. "Is Stefan coming?"

Right on cue, Stefan comes up behind me. "Hey, Elena. I heard you were coming."

"Stefan!" I say, getting up to hug him, happy at the sight of a friendly face. We pull away and he sits down next to me. "Who did you bring with you?" I ask him.

"No one. I just planned on coming in, making my donation, eating free food and then leaving."

"So you just got here?"

He nods. "Yep. And I'll be leaving right after I make a donation."

"You're not going to stay for a dance with me?"

He screws his mouth and thinks for a minute. "Fine. But just one dance."

I smile and look over at Damon, whose looking at us curiously. More and more people join us at our table, all friends of Damon.

"Sorry I'm late," a woman's voice says and I turn around to see a woman with long brown hair in curls, red lips, and a simple black long sleeve dress. She's wearing cream colored pumps and goes over to sit next to Stefan.

I look over at Damon, and he's looking at her curiously. I look between them and see that the woman is wearing a fuck me look. My stomach drops. She can't look at him like that.

Everyone at the table, including Stefan, say hello to her and I can tell Damon has no idea who this woman is. After she exchanges pleasantries with a few people, she turns to Damon. "I don't think we've been introduced before," she says and holds out her hand to Damon. "Katherine Pierce."

Damon reaches out his hand carefully, as if he didn't want to take it. "Damon Salvatore. This is my date, Elena Gilbert."

Katherine turns her attention to me and fakes a smile. She reaches out her hand and I take it the same way Damon did. "Nice to meet you, Elena."

"You too," I say, because I have no idea what else to say. She turns her attention back on Damon, who has already started another conversation with the man sitting next to him. I smile. He wants nothing to do with her.

Damn, am I jealous? I have nothing to be jealous of. Damon is holding my hand on his lap, and he doesn't even know who this woman is. So then why am I feeling like I have to rip her throat out?

Maybe because she's a thousand times prettier than me and she's looking at Damon right now like she wants to rip all of his clothes off.

"So, Damon," she begins, interrupting him from his conversation with who I think is someone with the last name of Cooks. "Are you the owner of Salvatore Enterprises?"

Damon nods, obviously annoyed that she interrupted him. "Yes," he says shortly.

"How long have you been doing that?"

Damon squeezes my hand, telling me that he hasn't forgotten me. He looks at me and smirks. Why is he smirking? What did I do? Am I wearing my anger all over my face?

Of course I was.

"I started it when I was twenty-one off of a trust fund."

"Wow, twenty-one? That's pretty young, don't you think?"

He shrugs. "I knew what I wanted to do and I didn't want to wait any longer. If I had waited I don't think I'd be as successful as I am today."

"Oh yeah, I remember all of that," Stefan begins. "He was so stressed out. My phone was nonstop ringing because he was always calling me for advice."

Everyone at the table laughs just as the waiters and waitresses start coming around and giving everyone a plate. We're served with steak, red potatoes and asparagus and little glasses of wine or champagne. Damon and Katherine don't speak a lot for the rest of dinner, just somewhat during conversations. I don't speak a lot either. Just mostly to Stefan while Damon's making new business partners.

When the dinner dishes are being cleared, they announce for people to join together on the dance floor. Half of our table leaves and Katherine turns to me. "So, how do you know Damon?"

I look over at Damon and he smiles down at me. "We're just friends."

"Really? Just friends?" She looks at us in disbelief. "I wouldn't believe that for a second. Especially since you've been holding hands this whole time."

I flush. Why does she care? Damon looks down at me quickly to see my reaction then looks back up to Katherine. "Elena and I are in that time when we're not together quite yet."

"Well, then does that mean I get to steal you for a dance?"

Damon looks unwilling but then he nods. He looks down at me, squeezes my hand, gives me a kiss on the cheek and then stands up. Katherine wraps her arms around his one arm as they walk on to the dance floor.

I glare at them as they dance together. Stefan is still next to me, doing something on his phone. They hold their hands together and wrap their arms around each other's waist. Katherine keeps trying to get closer to him, but Damon always steps away from her. I watch as she tries to move her one hand up and I roll my eyes.

Stefan looks over at me and smiles. "You can't be jealous of Damon and Katherine."

"I'm not jealous."

He snorts. "Yeah okay. You have nothing to worry about Elena. Damon can't stop talking about you."

"That doesn't rule out that she's a bitch."

He laughs. "He hardly even knows her."

"I don't care. Did you see the way she was looking at him earlier?"

He shakes his head. "No."

"Good thing you didn't. I thought she was about to burst into flames."

He turns to me and holds out his hand. "Forget about her. Come dance with me."

I look at him, and all my tension goes away. I smile, nod and take his hand.

Stefan has been my date for many occasions when one of my boys weren't able to accompany me. We dance together all the time.

He leads me onto the floor so that I'm out of eyesight from Damon and Katherine. Probably to keep me from shooting death glares at Katherine.

"I don't even know what you're worried about. Damon couldn't keep his eyes off you all during dinner."

"Yeah he did," I mutter, looking around for Katherine and Damon, just to keep an eye on them.

"Not for very long."

I don't say anything at first. I just keep searching. "What do you know about her?"

I look back at him and he sighs. "You're not going to give this up, are you?"

I shake my head. "Nope, not until she leaves which I hope is soon."

"You're not going to start a fight with her, are you?"

"No, we just a disagreement."

"Over what?"

"Over if she's trying to steal Damon away from me or not."

He laughs. "All I know about her is that she's a model who works mostly in New York City and goes to Europe for a week every month."

Hmm. So a model. Okay, I guess that makes sense for how she's so pretty. And it makes sense why Damon almost seems attracted to her even though he tries to hide it very well.

"Stop thinking about them," Stefan tells me right when I try to look back over at them. "Tell me what you did this week."

I shrug. "Just worked, went out with Damon on Tuesday. Nothing too special."

I look back over at Damon and Katherine and I feel Stefan sigh. Katherine is laughing at something Damon said and my stomach twists. Can the song hurry up and end already?

When it finally does, Damon and Katherine part. They say some things to each other but I can't make out what their lips are saying because Stefan spins me away from the view. "Hey," I protest and he smiles.

"You're staring daggers at them. What happens when you get caught?"

"I won't get caught, I'm very stealthy."

He rolls his eyes. "Yeah right. You're probably the clumsiest person I've ever met."

"I am not."

"Says the person who fell off a stage."

"Oh my god," I say. I smile and look anywhere but at him. He's laughing at me, at the memory.

"And remember that time when you and Caroline let yourselves into my apartment and tried to scare me but then you tripped on something and fell and made all that noise?"

I start laughing and he laughs harder. "Okay, okay, you've made your point," I say when my laughing ceases to an end.

He stops laughing too, but he's still smiling. "So, what's Caroline doing tonight?"

I shrug. "I'm not sure. She told me she was having some troubles with Klaus so she could be out doing anything right now."

Damon comes up to us right when the song ends. "Can I cut in?"

Stefan nods and hands me off to Damon. "By all means."

Damon wraps an arm around my waist and takes my hand. My body instantly relaxes into his body and warms. "Hi," he says, smiling at me like I'm the only person in the room.

"Hi."

"What were you two laughing about?"

I half-smile and he cocks his head to the side. "Just at how clumsy I am."

"I went to find you after I danced with Katherine and saw you with Stefan. I decided to give you guys another dance before I cut in and danced with you for the rest of the night."

"Oh yeah, how was Katherine?"

He grins, obviously knowing why I asked. "You're not jealous, are you?"

"No," I answer quickly and his grin widens. I look behind his shoulder and see Katherine behind him glancing over at us. I quickly look away and back to Damon, whose still grinning.

"Stop smiling like that," I tell him.

"I can't. You're cute when you're jealous."

"But I'm not jealous."

"I think you are."

"Well, I'm not."

His grin doesn't go down at least a fraction. It just stays put while he watches me. I'm already annoyed that he's grinning at me like that because he knows that I'm jealous, and I'm even more annoyed that he won't stop.

"Okay well, even if you were jealous, which I'm not saying you are, I'm just saying it hypothetically; that you'd have nothing to be jealous of." His grin finally goes down, a serious but soft look on his face. "I don't even know her. You're my girl."

_His girl_. My stomach fills with butterflies and I lean up on my toes to kiss him. He clings me closer to him and tries to deepen the kiss but I pull away. He leans his head against my forehead for a moment before leaning away and looking down at me, a look of adoration in his eyes.

"What do you say we get out of here? I already made my donation and all that's left here is the desert."

I nod my head. "Okay."

Damon leads me off the dance floor and we arrive back at our table. Someone tells us that Stefan already left. I smile. Stefan could have left before we danced, right after dinner, but he didn't. He stayed so I wouldn't be alone to brood over Damon and Katherine. I'll have to send him a box of chocolates or something for being such a good friend to me tonight.

I tell Damon I have to go to the bathroom quick and he tells me to hurry back when I walk away from the table. When I'm finished, I walk out of the stall and wash my hands just as Miss. Katherine herself walks in.

"Oh, hello Elena."

I grab a paper towel and dry my hands. "Hey, Katherine."

I'm just going to be nice to her, no matter how much I hate her. She stands next to me, looking at herself in the mirror as she takes out her lip gloss from her clutch and puts it on. "You and Damon are so cute together, if I hadn't said before."

I put a fake smile on my face. "Thanks. That means a lot."

She finishes up with her lip gloss and puts it into her clutch. "How about if we go out to lunch sometime? I'd love to get to know you more."

I shrug, even though I am one-hundred percent positive I would never be seen out in public on a lunch date with this woman. "I don't know. I'm almost always busy. Between work and planning concerts and rehearsing."

"Oh yeah, Damon told me you were in a band. He couldn't stop talking about you the whole time we were dancing. I'd love to see you play some time."

Something about her just felt right all of a sudden. She doesn't sound fake like she did before, but she sounds genuine. Either she's a really good actress or she really wants to see me perform.

Eh, what the hell. "We're playing tomorrow at the fundraiser."

Her face brightens. "Great! I'll definitely be there."

"Okay, then I'll see you tomorrow," I say making my way out to the door.

"Yes you will," she says just as the door shuts behind me.

I make my way to find Damon and find him by the door, waiting for me. He smiles when he sees me and I smile back. When I reach him, he looks down at me. "Ready?"

I nod. "Yeah, I'm ready."

* * *

**A/N: Please review, favorite, and alert! Your reviews inspire me to write more and quicker! **

**Have a good week!**

**Xoxo Em**


	5. Chapter 5

Shit. I'm going to be late again.

I quickly pull my already waved hair from work into a loose pony tail. I redo my makeup and pull on a pair of black leather pants with a pink see-through tank top that I'm wearing with a white bandeau. I pull on a pair of black sandals, grab my purse and sunglasses and run out the door.

Tyler has already called me five times. I was late getting out of work and it messed up my whole schedule. I don't even have time to shower. I still smell like a dirty restaurant.

I speed through the city like a bat out of hell and arrive at the park just as everyone else is. I have ten minutes to go before show time. I lock my car as soon as I'm out of it and begin to walk quickly across the park. I've never been this late before.

"Elena!" someone calls my name. Shit. I do not have time to exchange pleasantries with another person right now.

I turn my head and see Damon walking my way. I quickly wave to him and point to my wrist as if a watch is there. He quickly understands. He smiles and I look the other way. I feel his eyes on me the whole walk to the stage.

I'm almost to the stage when someone steps in my way. "Elena! So good to see you!"

I almost roll my eyes at the sight of Katherine. She runs in to give me a hug and I quickly hug her back. "Yeah you too. Listen I have to-"

"I can't wait for the show!" she says, interrupting me and I just want to smack her across the face. "I've heard a lot about this band, I didn't know you were the Elena they were talking about."

"Yeah it's going to be a good show, but I'm-"

"I brought my friend Pearl with me. She's new to the city. She just moved here from Florida so-"

"Listen Katherine, I'd really love to hear all about Pearl and about what the hell you've been doing all day but I can't because I'm already late and I need to go."

Surprise registers on her face and she nods her head. "Oh okay, go on then. We can talk later. Good luck!"

I nod my head then walk away from her. Damn her getting in the way. I'm already in enough trouble as it is.

Matt and Jeremy are on stage setting up, worried looks on their faces. When Matt sees me, he points to my direction and Jeremy looks over.

When I reach them, I don't say hello or anything to them. I just go to the back of the stage where Tyler is. "Where the hell have you been?"

I sigh. "I got held up at work." I put my purse down and take off my sunglasses. I grab the microphone. "But I'm here now."

I don't wait for him to respond. I quickly go up on stage, Tyler following me. "Where were you?" Jeremy asks as I reach them.

"At work. What songs are we doing?"

"I decided on old songs from like 2009," Matt says and goes through the set list. I memorize it quickly in my brain and then walk up to the microphone stand. I sit the microphone onto it. "What are we doing after?" I ask them.

"Going to the club," Jeremy says. "You're coming, right?"

I nod. "Yes. Can Damon come too?"

They all stop what they're doing to look at me. "Damon?" Tyler asks. "Your date went that well?"

I smile and nod. "Yes, so he's coming no matter what you guys say."

"Then why did you ask us?" Matt asks.

I shrug. "I was just being polite."

"Is he here tonight?"

I nod. "Yeah, he's around somewhere."

"So, you guys are like a thing now?"

I shrug. "I don't know yet, okay? How many more minutes do we have left?"

Jeremy looks down at his watch. "Two. C'mon Tyler we better get our stuff."

They exit the stage and grab their instruments. I walk up to the microphone stand and take the microphone out, ditching the stand. I look around quickly at everyone. Not many people are around the stage yet. They're scattered all around the park. They'll eventually make their way over to us once we start playing. What I'm really looking for is Damon. I see him sitting with Stefan and Ric at the bar. They all have their heads turned toward the stage, a beer in all of their hands.

I watch as Katherine makes her way towards them, a woman trailing behind her whom I'm assuming is Pearl. They all look towards her and say hello. She sits down next to Stefan and leans forward to talk to Damon. I catch myself about to give her the evil eye and look away. When I look back up, they're all looking towards the stage. I smile at them before turning my head back to my band. Jeremy and Tyler are back and in position. I give them a nod and we start playing the first few beats in The One Thing I Have Left by Hawk Nelson.

I feel great performing, as I always do. It's like I feed off the energy of the crowd. They all have their hands up, singing along with me. I lose track of Damon Ric, Stefan, and Katherine. Halfway through the show, I see them mixed in with the crowd, doing what everyone else was doing.

We finish Burn It to the Ground right when I start asking the crowd for song requests. I listen close and hear a few songs stick out. I skip my way back to my boys and ask them what they want to do. We decide on Breakin' Bones in ABC Order by Dropout Year and start playing.

During the song, I look to Damon who is bumping his head to the beat right when Katherine leans up to whisper something in his ear. He leans his head down to listen to what she's saying then nods. Katherine leans away and looks back up to me.

That's when I realize I'm gripping the microphone and my knuckles are white and my voice is tighter. Damn, when the hell did I get so jealous and protective?

I see Damon smirk and step a step away from Katherine and she says something to Pearl. Yeah, that's better.

Right when we finish the song, I ask for more requests, and keep doing requests until around eleven thirty. We decide to say goodnight and start packing up. People are already starting to leave.

We make it off stage and they all start putting their instruments away. "I'm going to go make my donation," I tell them. They all wave me off, deep in conversation about something.

I walk across the lawn to the table where they're taking donations. I take my check book out of my purse and start writing a check just as I feel hands on my hips.

"Hi," Damon whispers in my ear, his nose grazing along my neck.

I turn around and smile at him. "Hey."

"You did amazing," he says lazily.

I roll my eyes. "You're drunk."

"Love drunk on you…," he says and taps his finger on my nose.

"Yeah, he's had one too many," I hear another voice behind him say and see Katherine. She smiles at us.

"Oh yeah? How many have you had?" I ask her.

She shrugs. "I'm not sure. Not as much as him but not as little as Stefan."

I chuckle. Stefan must be playing DD tonight if he's not drinking a lot. If I know Stefan as much as I think I do, I know he's probably only had one or a half beer. That leaves Katherine somewhere between a half and maybe ten or however many Damon had.

"You were so great tonight! I'm glad I came," Katherine continues.

I smile. "Yeah, thanks for coming! I always love seeing new faces out in the crowd."

I finish writing the check and hand it to the woman. I turn back to Damon and Katherine. "So, we're going to a club tonight. Do you guys want to come?"

"I would love to," Damon slurs and I roll my eyes.

"You're already too drunk."

He waves his hand away. "I'm not drunk. Just a little tipsy."

I shake my head. "I don't think you're going anywhere tonight. Katherine you can come if you want."

She shakes her head and smiles. "No thanks, Pearl and I have other plans. We're going to get going. Call me sometime this week for lunch, okay?"

Yeah, like that's going to happen. I'll just 'forget'. "Okay, sounds like fun. Thanks for coming."

She says thanks for the invite and some other things but I'm only half listening. My attention is on Damon who is clutching on to me as if he can't even stand up straight. His head is in the crook of my neck, breathing into me. She says goodbye to both of us and walks away. That's when I begin the very difficult task of walking Damon back towards the stage.

We finally reach Jeremy, Tyler and Matt just as they're about to walk out of the park. Jeremy hands me my purse. "Here. We'll see you guys there."

I shake my head. "No, I think I'm going to take Damon home. You guys go though."

"Are you going to come after you drop him off?" Tyler asks me. "It'll be more fun if you were there."

I roll my eyes. "I'm sure you guys can have fun without me. I'll stay with him tonight, and we can go out tomorrow all together with a less drunk Damon."

Damon is leaning against me, almost passed out. The only thing holding him up is my arm around his waist. I say goodbye to everyone and lead him to my car. I seat him in the passenger seat and get in the driver's seat. I turn on the car and drive out of the parking lot. "Did you drive here?" I ask him.

He shakes his head. "Nope, Ric drove."

"Where did they go?"

He shrugs. "I don't know."

I look over at him staring at me quick before returning my gaze out the windshield. I manage to get my phone out of my purse while at a red light to text Ric and Stefan that I have Damon. "Just close your eyes, we'll be at your apartment in a few minutes."

"I don't want to. I want to keep looking at your pretty face."

"Hm. How drunk are you?"

He chuckles. "Not really. Your car is just spinning a little."

I sigh. He must be very drunk.

We arrive at his apartment and I park in the parking lot. Once I turn the car off, I get out and walk around the car. I pull Damon out and set him on his feet. I lead him to the elevator and ask him which floor. "The top one."

I press the last number and the elevator goes up. Of course he has the penthouse. I should have just figured that.

Damon is playing with a piece of my hair as he's leaning on me. I look up at his eyes that are now a dark blue color. I gasp at his facial expression. I can't help but notice the tingly feeling that I'm getting on the side of my body Damon is leaning against. It's as if an electric current is going through us. From the way he's looking down at me, I know he can feel it too.

"I feel… tingly," he says.

I give him a half-smile. "Me too."

"You're so beautiful."

I gasp again and he smirks. Butterflies erupt in my stomach and start fluttering all around. What did I do to deserve this man?

He leans down and presses a kiss to my cheek. His thumb then grazes across my cheek, leaving goose bumps in their wake.

The elevator stops at the thirtieth floor and I help him out. "Now which way do we go?"

He peels himself from me and walks forward, waving me along. "C'mon, I'll show you."

"Okay, just please don't fall." I mentally curse myself for not just bringing him back to my place for him to sleep it off. I could have made him breakfast tomorrow.

"Psh, I'm not gonna fall."

He stumbles his way through the hall and stops in front of a door. "I think it's this one."

I roll my eyes and begin to search his pockets for his key. "Eager, aren't we?" he smirks.

"Just trying to find your key."

I grab it out of his right pocket and open the door. I turn on the light and look around the room. It's huge. He must have more money than I thought.

I don't have enough time to admire his apartment because Damon's already stumbling his way through. I close the door and pull him against my side to support him. "Come on, boozy. Help me out a little."

He puts his arm around me and I lead him into his bedroom. He falls down on the bed, taking me with him. I quickly get up, and try to get him ready for bed. "Stay with me," he mumbles.

I begin to take off his shoes and socks and unbutton his shirt. "I don't know, you should get to sleep."

"I'll sleep better with you here."

Sleeping with Damon did sound tempting. To have his body wrapped around mine, his arms around my waist. I shake my head of the thought. I can't sleep with him tonight. What would that make of me?

"You sleep just fine without me here," I remind him.

He looks up at me just as I finish the buttons on his shirt. I peel it off him to reveal his bare chest. "What do you sleep in?" I ask him.

"Just my underwear. I hate clothes."

I smirk as I start to undo his belt and strip him of his jeans. I pull the covers out from under him and tuck him in. He looks up at me, eyes all big and his mouth in a pout. "Please Lena?"

I sigh, caving in. "Fine. But we're just sleeping, okay? No funny business."

He grins. "I won't make any promises."

"Well, you have to in order to have me stay."

He rolls his eyes. "Fine, I promise."

I take off my shoes, pants and shirt, leaving me in my bra and underwear. I'm glad I'm confident with myself. It left him teased. I go in search of one of his shirts to wear over me. I can feel his gaze on me, and when I turn to him, he's looking at me with the sexiest expression I've ever seen, like he's undressing me with his eyes. "It's not polite to stare," I tell him, pulling on one of his plain black t-shirts.

He grins. "It is when you're staring at the most sexiest girl in the world."

I roll my eyes and plop down on the bed next to him. "Don't say things like that."

"Why not? It's true."

He quickly grabs my waist with his arm and drags me to the front of his chest. "Are you sure you're not up for any funny business?"

"Not when you're drunk."

"But I'm not that drunk."

"You telling me that tells me that you are. Now, just go to sleep."

He sighs and I close my eyes. I snuggle in closer to his chest and breathe in his scent. I feel the most comfortable I have ever been as I pass off into a deep sleep.

* * *

Fingertips going up my side wake me. I moan and try to push them away, not up for anything they have planned at the moment. I'm way too tired to scold them as I try to fall back to sleep.

They start going up my side again and go across my belly. I feel a warm breath in the crook of my neck and lips touching my skin. "Lena," he whispers.

"Stop… it's too early," I moan and weakly try to push him away.

I open my eyes a little and see that it's not even sunny outside yet. The clock tells me it's three in the morning. I groan and turn towards Damon. "What are you doing?" I mumble, my eyes closing.

"What do you think I'm doing?"

"You promised me no funny business. And you're drunk."

He doesn't say anything. He just leans down and presses his lips to mine. His hand goes up and caresses my face. I kiss him back, and hold his hand with mine. He then goes lower and presses his mouth in my neck, making me gasp. His hands go down to caress my breasts as my hands knot themselves in his hair.

I know I should be trying to push him off, saying it's too soon and how he's drunk and he won't remember any of this tomorrow. But I don't. I want this to happen just as much as he does. And he can't be that drunk anymore, right? Four hours have passed.

I'm fully awake then. He leans up and pulls my shirt over my head, leaving me exposed. He takes a short intake of breath and looks down at me under him. "You're so beautiful."

I smile softly and he unhooks my bra, tossing it on the floor. He gasps again and slowly kneads my breasts. His head lowers down onto them as his mouth intakes one of my nipples, elongating it. I moan as the pleasure goes through my body, making me prisoner to his expert mouth. As he suckles on one of my breasts, his hand is massaging the other.

"Damon," I moan and he chuckles. He switches over to my other breast and suckles on it. His mouth then goes down south, kissing his way down my stomach until they reach the line where my panties begin. He looks up at me, silently asking me if this is okay. I nod and he peels them off me.

His hand lightly massages me and my hips buck up to try to meet his hand. I moan as he then inserts one finger, then two fingers inside me, palming my sex. My muscles welcome his fingers and they're moving together in the most delicious way possible.

He's looking up at me as I enjoy his fingers. His eyes are hooded and he's wearing that smirk he's always wearing. When I finally find my release, he gives me a peck before pulling off his boxers. I look down and see he's sporting a very large erection. I bite my lip just looking at it. His eyes match my gaze and he smirks again. "I need you," he tells me as he hesitates in front of my entrance, again asking me if this was okay.

I nod again and slowly he enters me. Both of us release a sigh and a groan. It was as if our bodies have been waiting for this moment to happen since they day we met. He kisses my lips, asking for passage of his tongue as he moves inside me. I let him in, and his tongue explores my mouth. My hands reach around to hold onto his back, my hands feeling his muscles move as he moves inside me.

It's slow and sweet, and we find our release together. He whispers my name as he comes. My name was a prayer on his lips. I close my eyes as the waves of pleasure washed through me. Damon flops down on my chest, his head in my neck, breathing in my scent. He slowly pulls out of me and rolls onto the bed, taking me in his arms as we both fall asleep in bliss.

* * *

The brightness of the morning is what wakes me again. I slowly open my eyes and take in my surroundings. I'm about to panic at the unfamiliar setting but then I realize I'm in Damon's bedroom. I feel his arm around me as I remember what happened in the middle of the night, what we did. I smile softly as I turn to face him.

Damon is still sleeping like an angel. His legs are intertwined with mine. I take this moment to admire his facial features. He looks so vulnerable and he almost looks younger. His forehead is free of any worry lines, his special smirk not in place. I find my finger reaching up to his lips to trace the outline of them. Suddenly, his lips pucker into a kiss, and he kisses my finger. I smile. He's awake.

"You're staring," he says.

My smile widens. "I can't help it, you're so pretty."

"It's creepy."

"It's romantic."

He opens his eyes and takes in the sight of me. His smirk returns on his face. "You're pretty too."

I roll my eyes and turn onto my back. He slowly takes my hand in his and kisses it. "It's true."

"You can be very sweet, do you know that?"

He smiles and then he rolls over so he's on top of me. "Oh yes I can be sweet. Ready for round two?"

I chuckle as I pull him down to my lips and we christen his bed once more.

* * *

"I'm guitar," I tell Damon.

"Bull shit, you're singing."

Damon and I finally made our way out of his bedroom, ate breakfast and are now playing Guitar Hero. I'm only dressed in his t-shirt and underwear, and he's in his boxers with a white t-shirt.

"Why? I always sing."

"Well, you have a killer voice, and God knows I can't sing."

I sigh, giving up. He hands me the microphone as he pulls on the electronic guitar. "Pick a song," he tells me.

We pick a Muse song and start playing. I feel his eyes on me the whole time. During it, I go all over him, teasing him. I rub my behind on his leg and put my hands all on him. I see him sporting another erection by the end of it. I smirk and he looks uncomfortable. "You suck," I tell him when it reveals our scores. He only got a thirty out of a hundred.

"I wonder why," he says in a mock voice. I smile widely. He takes off the guitar, and starts to stalk me like a prey. "Nope, not now," I tell him.

He smiles wickedly. "Why not now?"

"Because, we're playing Guitar Hero."

"I don't give a fuck about that game."

"Well, I do."

He doesn't stop stalking me until he finally runs up to me and pounces, both of us falling down onto the couch. His lips immediately go to that spot in my neck that he knows I like. I giggle and put my arms around him, feeling his back muscles. He silences my giggles with a kiss.

Desire explodes through my veins and I cling him down to me with more force. His hands go up and down my body as his tongue goes over my bottom lip. I open my mouth, and his tongue quickly goes in, tangling with mine. He moans in my mouth when I bite down on his lip. His hands go up my t-shirt, pulling it up as his hands go along. When it's finally up to my neck, my breasts revealed, he takes in a sharp intake of breath and moves his attention down to them.

My hand travels down his body and slips into his boxers. My fingers graze over his backside, my nails digging in when shoots of pleasure wash through me. He moans with me as I use my feet to push down his boxers.

I push him off me, taking control and he goes to the other side of the couch. I take off my t-shirt and throw it on the floor. I then crawl up his body, taking his lips with mine. He helps me take off his t-shirt and I throw it on the floor with mine. He sighs softly as I kiss my way down to where he really wants me.

He watches me, panting as I kiss his very big growing erection. He groans and throws his head back, his arms going above him to hold onto the armrest of the couch for support. I kiss him a few times more and then take him in all the way in my mouth.

Damon groans and his hips buck up to my mouth. I watch him come apart beneath me. His head is still back, eyes closed, enjoying what I'm giving him.

When I put him all the way in my mouth, air rushes out of his teeth. "Shit," he mutters. I pull back for a moment and go in again, sheathing my teeth against him. He groans again, louder this time, and suddenly he's up and pushing me back into the position we were in before. He rids me of my underwear and throws them across the room. He sinks into me, both of us maintaining eye contact. His mouth opens and my lips part as a moan escapes them. He starts to move and takes me into his lips.

I feel my muscles clench around him as he moves against that sweet spot inside me, making me cry out. When I feel my core begin to build, Damon moves his hand down to my bundle of nerves. I cry out again. "Damon," I whisper, but it sounds too needy. He smirks. When he feels we're both close, he says, "come with me, Lena."

I am only too eager to comply. We find our release together, looking into each other's eyes the whole time. We don't stop looking at each other even after we've come down from our high. Damon tightens his arms around me as I tighten mine around him, clutching him to me.

We stay like this, just staring at each other for a while. My heart flutters as I begin to feel the pull forming between us.

My phone rings somewhere in his apartment and we're snapped out of our reverie. We both sigh as I push him off me and walk to try to find it. I find it on Damon's bedside table. It stopped ringing since I wasn't quick enough to get it. It's Caroline. She already texted me a few times, asking me where I was and why I didn't go out with them last night. I decide to call her later and walk back to Damon.

"Who was it that so rudely interrupted us?"

I smile and lie down on top of him. "Caroline. I guess she's been texting me all morning."

"Hm, I guess we wouldn't have known, would we? We were busy." He smiles wickedly at me and I smile with him.

"What time is it?" I ask him.

"Going on two," he replies, his fingers stroking my hair. He leans up to kiss my forehead.

I sigh. "I have work at 4."

He stops his hand in my hair. "Call in sick."

"I can't Damon."

"No Elena, you can't go yet," he pouts. "Who's going to entertain me?"

"We'll go out tonight, how about that?"

He sighs exasperated. "Fine," he says and I have to chuckle at the tone in his voice. He's like a little child that didn't get what he wanted.

I get up and try to find my clothes. I slip his t-shirt back on and put on my pants. "I like your t-shirts," I tell him. I grab my shirt from yesterday and put it in my purse.

"I like them on you."

I smile and take in his naked state as I put my hair up in a ponytail. "Are you gonna put some clothes on?"

He shrugs. "Eventually."

I put my purse over my shoulder and slip my shoes back on. I walk back over to him and kiss him. "We should probably talk about this," I say when I lean away.

"There's nothing to talk about."

"There's everything to talk about, starting with you waking me up in the middle of the night for sex."

He smiles and shrugs. "What can I say? I couldn't help it. I can't take my hands off you."

"And about all of this sex stuff we're having."

He shrugs. "It's just sex, Elena."

I narrow my eyes at him. "Is that how you see it? Just sex?"

He shakes his head fiercely. "Not what I meant. I just meant we shouldn't be over thinking this right now. We're still getting to know each other. It'll probably define our relationship sooner or later, but let's just enjoy this right now before we try to take any steps further."

What? "Are you scared to be in a relationship?"

He widens his eyes and shakes his head. "No! Especially not with you. I'm just saying we should take things slow."

I look away from him and sigh. "So you call this slow?"

"For our relationship, yes."

I sigh. "Well, I don't know about you, but when you have sex with someone multiple times, that's not taking things slow. That's like friends with benefits."

"But that's not what we are."

"I know, but we just need to talk about this."

He sighs and gets up. He walks back into the bedroom and emerges in a just a pair of sweat shorts. He needs to put a shirt on or something because I will get distracted.

My brain is tries to wrap itself around the things he's just said. Just sex? And what kind of relationship did he think we have?

"Why can't we just talk now?" he asks, probably trying to get this over with.

I look at the time. "Because I have work in two hours."

"We only need five minutes," he tells me and grabs my wrist leading me to the couch. He takes my purse and sets it on the coffee table and then sits down next to me. "Lay it on me," he says.

I sigh. "Well, I feel like we just met each other and if we got into a relationship it would feel weird because everyone would be judging us because we barely know each other, and all this sex stuff we're having is good but it's not helping things between us, and only making our status even more questionable." There, that's everything I needed to get off my chest.

He slowly takes in what I just told him and lets out a big breath. "Okay, I understand what you're saying. How about we just put the good sex stuff" he smirks, using the words I just used to him and I roll my eyes, "on hold for a bit. Maybe I shouldn't have came on to you last night like I did, but I don't regret it. It felt so right to me, and I know what you're saying about us hardly knowing each other, but you know a lot more about me than anyone else."

I roll my eyes. "You barely told me anything, that's not true."

"I don't tell my deepest darkest secrets on the first date, Elena. Besides Stefan and Alaric, I don't really come close enough to a person where I can feel like I can tell them those kinds of things."

"So then why me then?" I ask.

He brushes the hair away from my face and sighs. "I don't know. There's just something about you. I just can't shake you."

I half-smile and take his hand. "I can't shake you either."

He smiles and drags his hand down to caress the side of my face for a moment. I relish in his touch before he puts his hand away and puts his hand over mine. "So, for our relationship status we can say 'it's complicated'," he says in a mock voice and smirks. I punch his arm and he chuckles. "What? What else have you got? Because I don't think there's a status that states you've just met a person a few weeks ago, and you begged to go on a date with her and stalked her at her work and when she finally agreed to a date, you had the best night of your life. Then you take her out to a charity dinner where she gets protective of you an even a little jealous-"

I glare at him. "I wasn't jealous."

He ignores me. "And then you see her again a few days later for a concert that she totally rocked in, you get drunk while fantasizing about her and she ends up taking you home. Then when you wake up in the middle of the night from a dream about her and find her in your bed, you just can't help but have her. And then you have her a few more times in the morning, but neither of you want to make this into a big thing yet, and because you just met each other and don't want to have people judging you for the rest of your life. You so desperately want to just ask her to be your girlfriend already, but you're scared of how she'll respond."

A gasp releases from my lips and I make a small smile. He smiles back at me. "You want me to be your girlfriend?"

He grins. "More than ever."

I bite my lip while I think about this. Part of me just wants to go for it but the other part tells me no. I have no idea why it's telling me no. Maybe it's because Dylan probably ruined me for all future relationships. Is that it? Am I scared to be in a relationship? Scared to be hurt again?

"I know what your problem is," Damon says and I turn to him. He's studying me carefully. "You're scared to be in a relationship again after what Dylan did to you."

What, can he read minds too?

I nod shyly and he half smiles, giving my stomach a flip. He raises his hand to touch my face, and I lean into his hand. "Didn't I already tell you I would never do that to you?"

I sigh. "Yeah, I know, but-"

"But nothing. How about this? We hang out some more and learn more about each other with no funny business, and in a few weeks we can reevaluate. You can learn to trust me more."

I smile and nod. "Okay."

He smiles. "So, 'it's complicated' then?"

I smile. "Yes, it's complicated."

* * *

**A/N: Please review, favorite and follow! I value each review so much, they truly mean the world to me**

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**Xoxo Em**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hello everyone! This is the longest chapter I've written so far, which is why this chapter is a little past due. After this chapter, we'll start getting into more of the plot and the conflicts. I just wanted Delena to be happy for a while and for all of you to see them happy because I have a whole trainwreck planned and it's not going to be pretty! You're going to hate me at times but trust me, it's all a part of the master plan. So enjoy problem-free Delena one last time!**

**Happy reading**

* * *

"I broke up with Klaus yesterday."

I look over at Caroline, raising my eyebrows. We're at my house, setting up game night. Everyone is coming to my apartment to play "Have You Ever", a game that Caroline happened to find while out shopping yesterday.

Things with her and Klaus were not holding up to par. She told me they were fighting more than ever and she couldn't take it anymore. Damon, however, told me that Stefan was putting on a special interest in Caroline. I hadn't noticed before, but after Damon told me that, I could see Stefan flirting with her and buying her drinks right in front of Klaus. Stefan was usually the reasons for their fights.

"Really? What'd you tell him?"

She shrugs. "The same stuff I've been telling you. Just that I'm tired of fighting with him over everything."

"So… what about Stefan?" I say, trying to tell her reaction.

She blushes and looks away from me. My jaw drops. "No. You didn't. Not already!"

She turns back to me, a huge smile on her face. "Yes, we did. And Elena, it was so perfect; I think we could have a chance."

"When did it happen?"

"Last Friday."

I widen my eyes at her. "Last _Friday_? Why haven't you told me?"

"Stefan just wanted to see how things worked out before we told anyone, and I think we're going to work out."

"That's great!" I say and hug her. "I've never seen you this happy about someone before."

She doesn't say anything. She just smiles.

"Hey, you know if you marry Stefan and I marry Damon, we could be like sisters."

We both squeal, excited at the thought. "You better get working on that relationship with Damon," she tells me.

I sigh and lean back in my seat. "Yeah, I know. Knowing someone for longer than a month is enough time to get in a relationship, right?"

She rolls her eyes and leans back in her seat too. "You shouldn't worry about that. Just when you both think it's the right time to do it is when you should do it."

I sigh. "I'm getting a pretty good feeling about it now. We've learned so much about each other these past couple weeks."

She nods. "I'm sure he feels the same. The guy can't take his eyes off you for a second."

I roll my eyes. "That's not true."

"Oh, but it is. I catch him all the time."

"Well, do you catch Stefan staring at you all the time?" I counter, trying to take the heat off of me. I could tell sometimes that he's watching me, but not all the time.

"He doesn't."

"Yes he does."

She shakes her head and scoffs. "Well, whatever. He's coming over tonight, right? Maybe it will be your lucky night, Lena."

I shake my head. "No, I don't know. Probably not tonight. We're going to be playing a game the whole time and we won't have time to talk. I don't even know how he feels about it still. Maybe he's tired of waiting around for me."

"He definitely is not. He's still completely whipped, so I say he has the same feeling as before."

A small part of me hopes it'll be tonight, but I doubt it. I've been texting him all day, but that didn't give anything away with how he was feeling. I guess him and Ric were out playing some kind of sport. I forgot which one though. I can't wait to see him tonight, it's been too long.

At seven, Damon and Paul come bursting through the door, all laughing. We all say our hellos, and Damon comes over and gives me a kiss on the cheek. I smile when he leans away to look at me. "Hi."

"Hi," I smile.

"I missed you."

My smile widens. We haven't seen each other all day and he missed me. "I missed you too."

"Where are all the drinks?" Stefan says behind us. I turn around and see his arm around Caroline.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing right now?" Damon whispers in my ear.

"Yes I am. They're together now."

He raises his eyebrows and looks to Stefan. "You couldn't tell me on the way over about the new girl?"

"I did. Multiple times."

I laugh. Stefan must have pissed him off somehow so naturally, Damon probably didn't listen to whatever he said on the ride over.

Damon and Stefan start to get to drinks out. They get the red cups out of the cabinet and pull out beer from the fridge. Ric arrives a little later and then Matt arrives last. Jeremy and Tyler aren't coming tonight. They said they had something else to do, but they never told me what.

Caroline begins to set everything up. The game is you have to pick up a card which has a question and everyone has to answer truthfully and whoever doesn't want to answer, or hasn't done it has to take a drink.

We all gather around in the living room with drinks in our hand once everything is set up. I sit next to Caroline on the floor. Damon, Stefan, Matt and Ric take up the couch. "Who's first?" Matt asks.

"I'll go first," Caroline volunteers and takes a card from the pile. "Have you ever gone skinny dipping?" she reads.

Almost everyone in the room says yes besides Stefan, who takes a drink. "Elena and I went skinny dipping together, actually," she tells them.

I gasp and hit her arm. "Don't tell them that!"

"Why not?"

"This I gotta hear," Alaric says.

"Well, we were in high school and at some party. We were all really drunk and we went down to the beach. Elena's boyfriend Dylan suggested we go skinny dipping, and we did!"

I put my hands over my face. "The rules don't say you have to tell them the story behind it?"

She shrugs. "Oh well. Your turn."

I pick up a card and read it. "Have you ever had sex with someone in the room?" I pale at the card. "Ooh…" I guess these questions really get down to it.

"Yes," Damon answers looking at me.

"No," Matt says.

"No," Ric says.

"Yes," I say, looking up at Damon, both of us smiling.

"Yes," Caroline answers, looking at Stefan and everyone turns to look at them.

"Ugh," Damon groans, a look of disgust on his face. I chuckle.

I see Matt give Stefan a high-five, both of them laughing. Ric and Matt take a drink. "Okay, Damon's turn."

Damon picks up a card. "Have you ever faked an orgasm?"

"Who came up with these questions?" I ask and everyone chuckles.

"No," Damon answers.

"Nope," Matt says.

"No," Alaric says.

"Yes," Stefan says, flushing.

"With who? I hope it wasn't Caroline," I say laughing.

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to even get into that right now. All I'm going to say is that the sex was really bad and I got out of there as fast as I could."

"Well then it wasn't with me because he spent the night," Caroline says and we all laugh. "And no, I haven't."

"Well, I have," I mutter and take a drink.

"What! With who?" Caroline asks.

I cover my face with my hand. "It's the same story Stefan had, it was just too bad."

"You didn't answer my question!"

"Well, it wasn't with Damon, so you can rule that out of your mind," I say and look up at Damon who seems more interested in our conversation. He smiles when I say that. "Glad to hear it, baby," he winks at me and smiles.

I smile and roll my eyes. "Matt, it's your turn."

Matt picks up a card. "Ooh, this one isn't a question. This one tells you to say what you find most attractive in the opposite sex."

"Their smile," Stefan says looking at Caroline who grins back at him.

"Uh, their breasts," Ric says and I reach over to hit him. "What? I'm only answering truthfully."

"You're a pig," I say but can't help the smile out of my voice."

"Their voice," Damon says, looking down at me with warmth in his eyes and I half-smile.

"Their eyes," I say.

"I'm going to have to go with their whole body," Matt says and this time Caroline hits him. "Ow!" he says rubbing the spot where Caroline's hand was, laughing.

"And I'll say just their face in general," Caroline says and turns her eyes to Ric. "You're next."

He sighs and picks up a card. "Have you ever been in love with someone in the room?" He looks around at us. "Ooh, now we're getting juicy."

"Yes," Matt says.

I widen my eyes. "What! With who?"

"You! In high school."

Damon turns to glare over at Matt, but he doesn't notice. "No you didn't, you're just making that up."

He rolls his eyes. "Yeah well, that kinda faded away when I saw what kind of living conditions you have."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, unless you're having people over, your apartment is covered in dirty clothes. You don't even attempt to clean your house when we come over."

"Because I know you guys don't care."

"And we don't, but five years ago, yes I did care."

"Well, that's because you went through your neat freak phase."

Everyone started laughing. "Well, it's a no from me," Ric says as he takes a drink. "You all repulse me," he says kiddingly.

"No," Damon says and my heart sinks. What? Did I wait too long? He doesn't want to wait for me anymore

My silly thoughts are run away when Damon continues his sentence, looking down to me. "I'm in love with someone in this room. Present, not past."

I gasp and my heart flutters. Suddenly, it's just me and him in the room. I don't hear anyone else's responses to the question because all I can focus on is him. He gives me his crooked smile, his eyes full of an emotion I could never place before that I now know the name to. Love.

When it's my turn to answer, I don't even flinch. "Mine is the same as Damon's."

I don't hear their response because Damon comes down onto the floor and puts his lips onto mine, not even caring who is in the room. His hand goes to the back of my neck, pressing my face to his. When he pulls away, he looks down at me with hooded, sexy eyes. "Later," he whispers in my ear.

Everyone is 'awwing' at us and I roll my eyes. Matt is smiling but looking at Damon questionably, being his overprotective brotherly self.

We play a many more rounds, Damon sitting on the floor next to me with his arms around my waist.

Everyone leaves at around eleven thirty, leaving Damon and I alone in my apartment. "That was fun," I say after I close the door.

As soon as I turn around, Damon is in front of me, pressing his lips to mine, his arms making their way around my waist and pressing me against his body. He softly moans in my mouth when I bit down on his lower lip.

His tongue forces its way into my mouth and tangles with mine. I braid my hands through his dark hair, pulling a little. He groans and moves his mouth down to the base of my neck. I gasp, feeling goose bumps where his mouth hits. My hands go down his back as I press my fingernails into his skin. He moans against my skin.

I'm not aware of him leading us back into my bedroom, and when my knees hit the edge of the bed, I fall back, bringing him with me. He straddles my hips while he tries to rid me of my shirt, leaving me in my bra. He gently massages them in his hands, my back arching to his expert hands. He peels off his green t-shirt and forces his attention down to my breasts.

I watch as he takes off my bra and throws it across the room, leaving me totally topless and exposed. He leans down on to me and I relish in the feeling of his skin against mine. Skin on skin is a wonderful feeling.

As his tongues goes down to one of my nipples, his hand trails itself down my belly and goes into my shorts. I moan as his fingertips lightly graze on my sex through my panties. He groans with me and sits up again. "I want to taste you," he says as he takes off my shorts and my panties, leaving me totally naked.

His words don't register in my mind completely until he kisses his way up my legs and breathes against my sex. I'm waiting for his mouth to go onto it but he's just waiting, watching me.

"Damon," I moan, begging for his mouth on me.

"Yes, Elena?" Oh, he's being a dirty devil.

"Please," I beg, my hands gripping the sheets beneath us.

"Please what?"

"Make love to me."

"I will," he says looking up into my eyes. His eyes are sincere behind the darkness that overcame his ocean blue eyes.

"Can you do it right now?"

He smirks. "I guess I could."

His tongue darts down in between my folds and I cry out. His hands try to hold me down to stop me from squirming. I tangle my fingers in his hair as he works on me. When I feel my muscles begin to quicken, he leans away and looks up at me, his lips glistening with traces of my arousal. He leans over me and rolls us over so I'm on top. "It's been too long, Elena."

I nod as I grind myself against his erection on his jeans. His head tips back and he groans just before I take off his jeans and his boxers. I sit back down onto him and grind against him some more. Air hisses through his lips as his hands find themselves on my hips.

When I finally take hold of his erection and sit myself down onto it, we both cry out. Damon was right. It has been way too long.

Damon watches me as I set a pace, going up and down on to him. His hands play with my breasts while I arch my back, closing my eyes. I feel myself begin to quicken and the pressure building inside. Damon must feel it too because he sits up and leans his forehead against mine. "Open your eyes," he says and I immediately comply. "Now, come for me, Elena," he says and I immediately do as he says. He follows quickly after me, looking into my eyes as if I'm the only woman on the planet as we both find our release.

He lies back down, taking me with him. We both try to catch our breath and his arms go around me. He kisses the top of my head and eases himself out of me. He puts the covers around us and rolls over so we're both on our sides, facing each other. I close my eyes, feeling him watching me.

I open my eyes after a few minutes and gaze into his. Unspoken words and emotions pass through us. Damon's eyes are the first to close, and he softly whispers "I love you, Elena," before falling asleep.

* * *

"Are you out of you mind?"

"What? It was just a suggestion."

"We can't play our original songs! What if they hate them?"

Jeremy and Matt are trying to get me to go along with their plan with playing at least one of our songs we wrote for the gig we're playing at. I'm still unsure about it, but I guess Damon was talking Jeremy into it and he talked everyone else into it. The only one who needed to agree was me.

"They won't! I showed Damon one, and he thought it was great!"

I sigh and hit my forehead with the palm of my hand. "What, do you guys have a new bromance going on? Why did you show him? He might have just been lying."

Jeremy rolls his eyes. "We're doing the song and that's final."

I sigh and sag my shoulders. "Fine, whatever. But if we get booed off the stage, it's on you guys."

They all ignore me and we take our places on the stage. I stand and wait for them to get ready and look out into the crowd, looking for a certain black-haired and blue-eyed man. Ever since we defined our relationship a few weeks ago, we've been inseparable. We've calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend more than necessary, but it was just fun to say it. Damon came to all of our gigs and my boys started to call him our groupie.

I spot him in the crowd with Ric, both holding a beer. I smile and wave to him and he waves seductively back. I chuckle and I see him chuckle too. We both just stare at each other, him talking to Ric but never taking his eyes off me.

When Jeremy gives me the okay to introduce ourselves to start playing, I throw my hand in the hair and tell them our band name just as Tyler starts playing the beginning of The Man Who Sold the World.

We play all kinds of music tonight, playing a genre for everyone. When we're in the middle of the concert and we just finish New Low, it's that time. The time to play the new song.

My pulse quickens and my palms begin to get all sweaty. I look back at the boys letting them know how nervous I am. They all give me quick reassuring looks. "Are you guys sure about this?" I ask them.

They all nod. "Absolutely," Matt says.

I sigh and walk back up to the front of the stage. When I hear Matt's drumsticks click together a few times, I take a deep breath before they all begin to play and I start to sing.

Questionable looks pass through most of the people's faces in the audience, but they don't seem to hate it. They put their hands up in the air and bang their heads at the rock song we're playing.

I look to Damon for confidence and he's smiling proudly up at me. He gives me a thumbs up and I smile back at him. My self-esteem rises and I start jumping around like usual.

Jeremy, Matt and Tyler all look happy at the crowd's reaction. This is such a great thing. We can actually become a famous rock band, playing our own music. Why didn't I agree to this sooner?

We play two more of our original songs and then go back to singing covers. We play Remedy by Seether first and then Out of Time by A Day To Remember before we ask for song requests. Playing requests is always my favorite part of every gig, because I know that we're playing something that they'll love.

While listening to requests, I heard some people yell out "we love you, Elena!" My face explodes in a huge grin. I have fans. Is that even possible for a little garage band?

Then I heard a very familiar voice yelling above all the other screams. "I love you Elena!" Damon yells with his hands around his mouth. I tilt my head to the side smiling. "I love you too, Damon," I say into the microphone and girls start to scream as they look around for Damon. Some don't even know who they're looking for and people around Damon ask him questions.

I turn around and laugh at the crowd's reaction with my boys. Matt is already laughing hysterically and isn't controlling it very well. Jeremy and Tyler are both clapping their hands, laughing. I turn back around into the crowd and listen for a good song to sing.

Something has changed tonight. We're catching on fans, and all four of us can't be closer. Playing a few of our original songs was definitely a good idea and I'm glad I agreed to it. Otherwise, I'm sure they would have started playing the music and to avoid looking like an idiot I would have started singing along, whether I liked it or not. I'm just glad it didn't have to come to those terms.

We end the concert by playing Uprising by Muse. It's already going after midnight, and we have to deny the crowd's pleads for an encore. We walk off the stage and bask in our post concert bliss. "That was incredible," I say.

They all nod. "That was by far the best gig we've ever done," Tyler says.

"They loved those songs! We should play more next time."

They all give me exasperated looks. "Are you kidding me? Miss little 'they're going to hate them' wants to play more of them."

I roll my eyes. "Well, now that I know that they don't we can play more!"

"So, are we going out to celebrate?" Jeremy asks.

I nod and jump up and down. "Yes! That sounds fun, let's go to a bar."

Suddenly, arms wrap around my waist pulling me into a front I know well, and lips are in my ear. "Hello," Damon whispers.

They all sigh in disgust while looking at us and walk away. "Get a room," Matt mutters.

"I think we will," I tell him as I turn around in Damon's arms and kiss him. "Hi."

"Amazing job up there. That was the best you've ever done."

I smile. "Thank you. It was only because you were there. You're our good luck charm."

He rolls his eyes. "It has nothing to do with me. It has to do with you playing those songs. They were great songs!"

I sigh. "I know. I wish I listened to you earlier. I didn't know we would have gotten this reaction."

"Yeah, we had to beg her to do them with us," Matt says from behind us.

I sigh. "It doesn't matter. What matters is that we're going to keep playing and writing original songs and live our dream of becoming rock stars."

I release myself from Damon's arms and go over to them. "Yeah!" Tyler says before we all give each other high fives.

"Group hug!" I say as I try to manage to put my arms around all of their sweaty bodies.

They all moan in disgust but then put their arms around me. "I love you boys," I say in a sweet tone and they moan again.

"Corny!" Jeremy says and I laugh as they all release their arms. I turn around to face Damon. He's standing there, watching me, a small smile on his face. "What, I don't get a hug?"

I smile and run over to him, jumping on him. I put my legs around him and my arms around his neck and he puts his arms around me, holding me up. "You get too many hugs already," I say.

He shakes his head. "There's no such thing as too many hugs. Or too many kisses."

I smile and lean down to kiss him, putting my hands on his face. I feel him smiling under my lips. "Thank you for coming," I say when I lean away. "It gave me a good confidence boost when we were singing one of our songs."

"You didn't need a confidence boost. You looked confident the whole time."

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, I doubt that." I jump down off of him, still remaining in his arms. "Are you going to come with us?"

"Well, seeming as though I drove you here, I probably am. Where are you guys going?"

"To a bar to celebrate."

"I could go for a few drinks. Get your stuff together."

I step back from his grasp. "So bossy!"

He chuckles as he follows me to where I put my things. He starts chatting with Jeremy while I help Matt and Tyler pack up Matt's van with his drums and my microphone stand.

"I'm going to invite Bonnie to come with us," Matt says.

I smile. Bonnie is someone I met in college and used to be our little groupie until three months ago when she left to go visit her family. Where, I don't know but I haven't talked to her in three months. "Great, I miss her."

"Is Damon coming?" Tyler asks.

I nod. "Yeah."

"Is Caroline coming?"

"She told me she and Stefan went out on a date."

Both Matt and Tyler 'ooh'. "I didn't know they were that serious."

"I didn't think so either. But I guess they've been on a few dates before this."

"And this date didn't happen to include coming to see us play?" Matt says in a mock tone. "I'm offended."

"I know, like who needs dinner when you can come out here to rock," Tyler says.

They start talking about something else while we finish loading everything. We begin to walk back over to Damon and Jeremy. Damon must have been watching me because he looks away when I catch him. I smirk.

I grab my purse, put on my sunglasses and take Damon's hand. "Ready?" I ask him.

He nods. "We'll see you guys there," Damon tells them as we start to walk away from them. They all wave at us.

"Why are you wearing sunglasses?" Damon asks me. "It's dark outside."

"It's a fashion statement."

He raises an eyebrow. "Wearing sunglasses in the dark is a fashion statement? Hmm, never heard of that one."

I sigh. "Fine, I didn't want to tell you this to ruin your ego even more, but you're just so hot it blinds me when I don't wear sunglasses."

He grins down at me. "That's a good answer."

"And that's the only sarcastic compliment you're getting tonight."

He pouts and I laugh. He squeezes my hand and laughs with me.

I hear someone call my name from behind me. "Elena!"

Both Damon and I turn to find the source of the voice. We see two girls about fifteen years old coming towards us, big smiles on their faces. "Hey, guys," I say. "What's up?"

"Can we have your autograph and a picture?"

I smile but have a confused look on my face. Really? These moments were very rare for me. Sometimes a person would come up to me and ask for a picture, but it didn't really mean that much. This didn't really mean that much, but it still gave me a satisfied feeling whenever someone asked.

"Sure of course," I tell them and their smiles widen. I look over to see a middle-aged lady coming over towards us. This must be one of their moms. "So, what are your names?"

"I'm Hannah and that's Maddie."

"Well, it's nice to meet you Hannah and Maddie. Do you have something to write with?"

They both nod as Hannah grabs a sharpie from the middle-aged ladies purse. "Hi, I'm René, Hannah's mom." She holds her hand out and I take it. "Nice to meet you."

"Here!" Hannah hands me the pen and her phone.

"You want me to sign your phone case?"

She nods and giggles. "I don't have anything else for you to sign."

I smile and sign my name on her phone. "And what about you, Miss. Maddie?"

She hands me her phone too and I sign my name on her case too. "There you guys go."

"Oh, and a picture," Maddie reminds me.

"Oh yes, of course," I say as I hand Damon my purse and my sunglasses. He's smiling at me, a proud look on his face. Mom takes out her phone and starts to try to get the camera app out while I put my arms around the two girls. "Oh, come on, Mom, you gotta get in the picture too," I say.

"Yeah, mom!" Hannah says.

"Then who will take the picture?"

"Damon will," I answer and look to him. He snaps out of whatever thought he was thinking of and comes over. "I'd be happy to take the picture."

Mom hands Damon her camera and comes over to stand next to Hannah. "Say cheese!" Damon says as the flash turns on and snaps the picture. "Cute," he says in a mock voice and both the girls giggle.

"Is that your boyfriend?" Hannah asks me.

I laugh. "Yes, he's my boyfriend."

"I told you he was him when we saw them walking earlier!" Maddie says.

I look over at Damon and he's laughing with his head back. I smile at him and turn my attention back to the girls.

"Where's the rest of your band?" Maddie asks.

"They're still packing up behind stage."

"C'mon, girls, we don't want to waste any more of her time," Mom says and I roll my eyes.

"You're not wasting any of my time, I love meeting little fans."

Damon hands Mom back her phone and hands me back my purse and sunglasses.

After telling me how much they look up to me and how they try to come to every concert, we say our goodbyes. I feel like I can walk on water. That was a great self-esteem boost.

"You're incredible," Damon says after a minute.

I smile as he takes my hand again. "What are you talking about?"

"Just seeing you with two fans. You're adorable."

I chuckle and lean in closer to him. "And you're sweet."

We arrive at his Audi and get inside. He takes my hand and smiles up at me as we drive in silence. When we get to the bar, we get out and walk hand in hand into the bar.

We're the first ones to arrive and we head to the bar. The bartender comes up to us. "What's it going to be?"

"Bourbon for me, and a pomegranate martini for her."

I smile at the knowledge that he knows what I like. He looks down at me lovingly. "How did you know I'd want that?" I ask him.

He rolls his eyes. "That's your favorite drink."

"Well, what if I wanted bourbon?"

He throws his head back in laughter. "Do you remember when we were in this very bar, sitting back in that corner and you had a sip of my bourbon? Do you remember what you said?"

I smile. "Well, what if I wanted a… raspberry martini?"

He sighs. "You're so frustrating. I'll never order a drink for you again."

I chuckle and lean into his arm. "Thank you, a pomegranate martini was just what I was after." I pucker my lips for him and he sighs before leaning down and placing his lips on mine.

The bartender comes back with our drinks and sets them down in front of us. "Anything else I can get you?" he asks us but is looking directly at me, his eyes all flirty. Damon puts an arm around me protectively. "Nope, we're good. Thanks," he says, trying to not growl.

The bartender nods and walks away. "Dick," he mutters.

I sigh. "Don't worry about him," I say while I rub his back. He's still watching him with hard eyes. I turn his head to face me with my hand and his eyes soften when they look at me.

Just then, Jeremy, Matt, Tyler, and Bonnie enter the bar, yelling. Both Damon and I turn to look at them and they come over to the bar where we are. Both Bonnie and I have huge smiles on our faces when we see each other.

I turn out of Damon's grasp, run over and hug her. "Hey!" she says when we meet and put our arms around each other.

"I've missed you so much, Bonnie!" I say and we pull away. "It's been three months."

"I know, I've been meaning to call you to see if you and Caroline wanted to hang out but I haven't gotten the chance! I've been too busy."

"Aw, you guys already started before we came," Tyler mutters to Damon behind us.

I roll my eyes at him and she does the same. "Caroline will be thrilled you're here. She's out with Stefan tonight-"

"Wait, Stefan? Girl, you have to catch me up."

"There is so much you've missed Bonnie," I say when I look at Damon.

"Well, we weren't going to wait for you," he tells them. He must feel my gaze because he turns his head to look at me. He gives me his half-smile and I smile back before turning back to Bonnie. Bonnie notices our exchange and gives me a questionable look. "Oh yeah, let's go sit and you can tell me all I've missed."

The boys go find a table for us. Bonnie and I join them, sitting next to each other.

"I'll go get the first round. What's everyone up for?" Jeremy asks.

We all agree on vodka and Jeremy makes his way up to the bar. Damon and Jeremy are talking while I talk with Bonnie about everything.

Damon looks over at us when I'm telling her about him. I try to keep my voice down as much as I can but it's impossible in the bar and since Damon is sitting right across from me he gets a front row seat of our conversation. He mostly just watches me, a crooked smile on his face. When I finish telling her about him, I look over at him. He's staring at me as if I'm the only girl in the room and I light up inside. I suddenly get the urge to take him by the collar, bring him into the bathroom and have my way with him.

I settle for a kiss on the lips. I lean across the table and plant one right on his lips and lean away. I turn back to Bonnie and tell her about Caroline and then the two girls I met while leaving the concert.

"You're kidding! That's awesome!"

"I know! They were so cute too."

"So they asked you for pictures and autographs?"

"Yes! They also asked where the rest of the boys were and they looked disappointed when I told them they were still back stage."

"Those songs you did were great though! All that hard work really paid off."

"You were there? I didn't see you."

She nods. "Yes, I was in the middle somewhere."

Steven comes back with another round of shots and we all say cheers before downing them.

"Let's dance," Damon suggests after a few more drinks. I nod and let him lead me onto the floor where everyone else was dancing. I grip on his blue t-shirt that makes his blue eyes even bluer.

"Hey Damon, do you know what the sky is so grey?"

He rolls his eyes, obviously hearing this one before, and shakes his head. "No Elena, I don't know."

"Because all the blue is in your eyes," I say flirty and giggle. "You're stealing the sky's blue color. You're a thief."

He shrugs. "What can I say? Blue's my favorite color."

"I can see that," I say, glancing down at his shirt.

"Well your favorite color must be blue too then."

I look down at my outfit. I'm in Damon's denim button up shirt. I have rolled up the sleeves to my elbows and rolled up the bottom so it's not so long, with leggings and black flip-flops. I smile. "I like wearing your shirts."

"I like seeing you in them."

"No more talking!" I say as he pulls me to his chest and we start swaying to the beat of Your Touch.

When Damon gets tired after a few songs, he goes to sit down but I keep dancing. Bonnie comes up to join me with Jeremy and we start dancing. We're all having fun just when someone grabs my arm and yanks me from our little circle.

I turn around to see who it is and see I'm surrounded by men all trying to dance with me. I bug my eyes out, looking for an escape route before Damon notices. I look over at Jeremy and see he's got his defensive look on his face. Normally I probably would have just started dancing with them, but not when I have a boyfriend. Not when I have Damon. And Jeremy would probably just ignore it if I didn't have this look on my face. Damon wouldn't like this at all.

I try to dance my way out of the circle, but they just follow me. I look to Jeremy again and he's already making his way towards me. I thank god that Damon hasn't noticed so he won't get mad and create a scene. If he got defensive for me to the bartender who just gave me a flirty look, I don't know what he would do now.

I feel Jeremy take my hand and he tries to pull me away just as I see Damon behind him. My stomach drops and I pale when I see the look on his face. One guy puts their hands on my waist and I look up to Jeremy for help.

"Get your hands off her," Damon says to the guy.

The guy behind me chuckles and Jeremy pulls me harder and has me stand behind him. Then I realize that Tyler and Matt have made their way over to us and are standing with Jeremy.

"What are you, her bodyguards?" the guy says and the guys behind him start chuckling.

"C'mon man, it's just some fun," another one of them say just as Damon hits him and Matt hits the one who had their hands on me.

I try to fight my way from behind Jeremy and Tyler but they hold me off. "Damon, Matt, no! It's not worth it!"

They don't listen to me. Jeremy then tries to break it up while Tyler holds onto my arm, still standing in front of me. Once Damon and Matt get a handle on themselves and the two other guys are being held off by the other guys, we all walk away from them. Tyler leads me outside with Bonnie trailing behind us.

I sigh heavily and end it with a grunt. "This is so annoying."

"We're leaving," Tyler says.

I look to Bonnie to see her protest but she doesn't. She's just looking at me worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Of course I'm fine. I just wish that whole thing with Damon and Matt didn't happen."

"I'm going inside again to see what they're doing. Stay here," Tyler tells us. We both nod and he goes back inside.

"I didn't want Damon to see," I admit. "I thought he'd get mad and I didn't want him to get so riled up over nothing."

"Well, once you were in the middle with them, Jeremy got mad because he knew you were upset, and then I looked over to the table, and Damon was looking around, probably for you. Then he must have seen Jeremy and he got up to see what was going on and then they all followed him," Bonnie says and I sigh again.

A hand goes up onto my forehead. "Sometimes it's annoying to have so many protectors."

Bonnie smiles. "It's sweet of them. You know they all look at you as their little sister."

I sigh. "Yeah I know."

Just then, they all emerge from the bar. Damon and Matt look like they were just dragged on the ground. I run over to them. "Are you guys okay? Are you hurt?"

They both wave me away. "We're fine, calm down," Matt says.

I look them both over. Matt only has a few scratches while Damon is bleeding on his cheek. "You're bleeding," I say.

"I'm fine, Elena. It doesn't hurt."

"What were you guys doing in there?"

"Just making sure he'd never touch what's mine ever again," Damon mutters and I gasp. _His_.

"Let me take you home," I say and take his hand.

He shakes his head. "Nope. Little missy, you've had too much to drink. I'll be driving."

I sigh. He's probably right. "We'll see you guys later," I tell them as we walk away and down the street towards the car. "You drank just as much as I did."

He shakes his head. "Nope, I only had that one shot and that bourbon."

"But I should be the one driving you home since you're hurt."

"If you were driving we're probably t-bone into a tree. I'm perfectly fine and capable of driving." We arrive at the car and he opens my door for me. "Now get in, and if you try to tell me I'm not okay one more time you'll be walking home."

I gasp and smile when he starts to smile. "You would never."

He smirks and wags his eyebrows. "Try me."

I try to compose my face and stop myself from laughing. "Damon, you are not okay. You are hurt and I should take you to a hospital."

He cocks his head to the side with a straight face but with a trace of humor. "Hmm," he says as he shuts the door he opened for me and goes over to the driver's side and gets in.

"Wait, Damon!" I say and try to open the passenger door just as he locks the doors.

I start laughing and he turns on the car. "Damon! Open the door!"

He rolls down the window. "See you later, sweet cheeks. Have a nice long walk home."

My heart quickens and I realize he isn't going to let me in. He then begins to drive out of his parallel parked spot and drives away. "Damon! Wait!"

You have got to be kidding me.

I groan. I guess he wasn't kidding. At all. Why the hell did I say that? I would be sitting next to him in the car holding his hand while he drove and he would occasionally look down on me and smile.

No, he'll come back. I know he will.

I wait a few minutes, waiting to hear the sound of a car engine nearing, but all I hear is silence. Maybe he's not coming back. Oh hell, I am going to yell at him so much when I see him again. How dare he! I was just joking!

I am relieved when I hear his car coming back and stop on the other side of the street. He rolls his window down and takes in the sight of me standing with my arms crossed, mad as hell. He just chuckles. "Get in."

I don't move and his smile widens even more. "C'mon babe. Get in."

I sigh and release my arms but I don't move. I can see he's getting frustrated. "Please my sweet little buttercup, will you please get in the car?"

"No," I say. "Actually, I think I'd rather walk."

I start to walk and I see him driving along next to me very slowly. It's a good thing it's the middle of the night and we're only on a side street otherwise people would be very angry with him.

"Come on, Elena. Please get in."

"No!" I say and keep walking.

Suddenly, his car isn't trailing behind me anymore. I walk a little more before turning behind me and see him running up to me, his car parked in the middle of the street. I smile, squeal and start running.

He catches up to me quick, and soon his arms trap me around my waist and pulls me over his shoulder. "Put me down!" I say as I try to struggle to get free.

"Not a chance."

He carries me into the car and deposits me on the seat before closing the door and running around the front of the car to the driver's seat. Probably so he could get there quick enough and I wouldn't escape.

He starts driving and I fold my arms. He laughs and pinches my left cheek. "Oh, come on, Elena. You can't seriously be mad at me. I told you what would happen."

"But I didn't think you'd actually do it!"

"Well, that was your fault. Not mine."

I sigh and lean back into the seat. I don't say anything. He just keeps looking over at me, laughing. "I came back for you, didn't I?"

"Yeah but not for like five minutes!"

"I was only gone for three!"

"No, you were gone for definitely longer than three minutes."

He sighs as he drives into his parking lot. He parks the car and looks to me. "Are you going to get out or spend the night in here?"

I look around my surroundings and shrug. "I wouldn't mind sleeping in here."

He screws his mouth and smiles. He gets out and comes around to my side of the door. He opens the door and holds his hand out for me. I look at it for a moment, deciding what to do. I could take it and we'd go upstairs, or I could not and let him walk away. Then I'd steal his car and drive back to my apartment. The only problem with that plan is I don't know how to hot wire a car.

He looks down at me with sincere eyes and a pout. "Please Elena?"

I sigh and take his hand. His championing grin makes me angrier and he shuts the door before locking the car with his keys.

The trip up to his apartment is in silence. I hang up my purse and take off my shoes once we're in his apartment and he takes my hand and begins to lead me into the bedroom. I take my hand out of his grasp and he turns around quick. "What?"

"I'm still mad at you."

He sighs, frustrated. "What can I do to make it up to you?"

I think for a moment. "You can give me a massage."

He grins widely and walks over to me. He strokes the back of his hand on my cheek and his grin softens. "How about I give you a bath and a massage?"

I lighten up. "That sounds nice."

He smiles and I let him take my hand again and lead me into his bedroom. He drops my hand and goes into the bathroom to start filling the tub with water. I watch him, leaning on the door frame while he pours some bath oil into the running water and smells of vanilla and brown sugar fill the room. He turns around to look at me and smiles softly.

He begins to take off his shoes and I start to undress. He watches me, enjoying the show I give him, and when I'm totally undressed, he scans his eyes up and down my body. "You're so beautiful."

I smile shyly and wait for him to undress. He steps into the tub first after turning off the water and holds his hand out for me. I take it and we both sit down, his front to my back and his legs covering mine.

We sit there for at least an hour, enjoying each others company, not saying a word and just listening to each other's breathing. Damon's hands make their way up to my shoulders eventually and begin to rub them. I lean my head back against his chest in pure bliss.

When the water starts to get cold, we get out and Damon drains the tub. "Now, how about that massage?" he says with a wicked grin.

I smile. "You better put some clothes on or something so I don't get distracted."

His smile widens even more. "I like you distracted."

I sigh and wrap a towel around my body. "Just give me a damn massage so I can think about if you're forgiven or not."

"You don't know yet?" He pouts mockingly and then smiles.

I sigh and head for the bedroom, laying down on the bed on my front waiting for him. I don't hear him come up behind me, but suddenly, he's straddling my behind and rubbing my back, his hands covered in a sweet-smelling oil.

"Mmm," I moan as his hands travel up and down my back.

I can almost hear his smirk. "You like that?"

I nod my head. "Yes. You have big strong hands."

He chuckles and I smile with him. "These hands are capable of anything, remember that."

I smile. "I sure will."

He rubs my back and my shoulders for a long period of time. I'm so relaxed that I eventually fall asleep, and wake up to Damon lightly shaking my shoulder. He's lying beside me now, watching me, his hand on top of mine. "Oh come on, Elena. You can't make me do all that stuff for you and then fall asleep and expect me not to get any action."

I smile and sigh at the same time. "Oh yes I can. I'm mad at you, remember?"

"I just gave you a bath and a massage. It's impossible for you to still be mad at me."

I think for a moment. "It's still possible. But thank you, it was very sweet of you."

"Anything for my girl," he says as he smiles and leans down to kiss me as we get lost in each other.

* * *

**A/N:**** Remember to review, follow & favorite, and follow me on twitter! Smolderrholders**

**See you next week**

**Xoxo Em**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Happy TVD Thursday! With the last chapter being so long, this one ended up being pretty short - only 4,000 words. It's pretty much just like a transition chapter for the next chapter coming which I promise will be longer. I put this chapter in Damon's POV for a change, which was actually kind of difficult. We'll be having more of his POV in later chapters, so I thought I'd just introduce his side of things.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Numbers pass through my head, not making any importance until I come up with the ending product. Damn this is boring. Why can't I hire someone else to do this?

My thoughts drift to Elena. To what she's doing right now, to her smile, her laugh. She told me she was going to Tyler's today with the rest of her band. Jeremy and I are going out tonight, to where I don't know, but I do know that Elena won't be coming with us.

I shake my head, trying to rid all thoughts of her. I always get too distracted once I start thinking of her. I turn back to my task, typing more numbers into the calculator.

"You are so whipped," I hear someone say and look up in time to see Alaric walking into my office. He closes the door behind him and sits in the chair in front of my desk.

"Please Ric, come on in."

He rolls his eyes. "Don't try to change the topic. I know you were just thinking about Elena."

"And how do you know that?"

"You get this certain look on your face that I've never seen before. Makes me wonder if it's the one you wear when you're in the sack."

I scoff and roll my eyes. "What can I do for you, Ric?"

"Nothing, just dropped by to see what you were up to."

I sigh. "Well, can you see what I'm doing later? I'm kinda busy here."

"Doesn't look that way to me. Looks to me you were just thinking about Elena with all the time left in the world."

"I got distracted for a split second. No big deal."

He thinks for a moment, just looking at me. "I'm sure Elena would love to hear that."

I smile and roll my eyes. "I'm sure she would."

"So you admit it. You are whipped."

God damn it. "Yes, I'm whipped, now get out."

"Nope, believe it or not I actually did come here for a reason. My dad is selling one of his companies. I thought you might want to buy it. Put in a few extra dollars in your pocket."

We talk about business for the next hour. Alaric and I have been business partners since a year after I started the company. I'm glad we're as close as we are because if we weren't I wouldn't have gone to that fundraiser and I wouldn't have met Elena.

A quick tap on the door brings us out of our reverie. "Come in," I mutter.

The door opens and in the doorway is a beautiful brunette, looking at me with excited brown eyes and a bag in her hand. She walks in, closing the door behind her. My face is already in a huge smile, and I feel a twinge of guilt for muttering at her. "Hey guys, I brought lunch."

"Sweet! I'm starving," Ric says.

Elena sighs. "You should be more of a day drinker. You're always so hungry when you're not drunk."

He wags his finger at her. "Being drunk and working is never a good combination. What did you bring me?"

"I didn't bring you anything. I brought Damon a sub from Subway just the way he likes it with a big cookie and a kiss," she says as she looks over at me while speaking.

"Sucker," I mutter to Ric and stand up to walk over to her. I kiss her cheek. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to surprise you. If I knew Ric would be here I would have brought more."

"He can go eat the shit in the break room." I smirk at Ric and he rolls his eyes before standing up. "Okay, I'm out. Stefan and I are going out with you and Jeremy tonight."

"Great, see you then," I say, not looking at him and just looking at Elena.

Ric leaves and Elena looks up at me. "Where are you guys going?"

I shrug. "I'm not sure yet. Jeremy won't tell me."

We both sit down and she takes everything out of the bag. She sets the sandwich and cookie in front of me and puts another sandwich in front of her. "What was he doing in here?"

"Just talking business. Nothing worth sharing."

We eat in silence for a few minutes. Suddenly, Elena's eyes brighten and she looks to me. "Did you see the newspaper today?"

I shake my head. "No, why?"

She gets her excited face on and gets up. She runs out the door before I can say anything. What the hell? Where is she going?

I'm about to go after her, wondering what she's up to when she comes barreling back through the door with a newspaper in her hand. "Read that!"

I look at where she's pointing and see a picture of her and the rest of her band on stage from the concert on Saturday. I read the bottom paragraph, like she asked.

'We were blown away at the fundraiser concert last Saturday. Band mates Elena Gilbert, Jeremy Sommers, Matt Donovan and Tyler Lockwood played for the first time ever some original music. The crowd seemed to love it, and so did we. We can see a future for this band coming quickly. Where will we hear about them next?'

Elena's still looking up at me, waiting for my reaction. "This is great!"

"I know! Did you see the part where they said we have a future? Other people think we have a chance in the real world! We won't be this small garage band that plays at every freaking fundraiser this town has to offer. We can be superstars! And we'll have fans and we just need to write more music and play them and go to a record company or something I'm not really sure what, maybe some kind of agent, but they loved us! They really loved us and the songs and-"

I stop her midsentence just to shut her up with my lips. I knew that if I didn't shut her up sooner or later, she would keep going on and on about this and then start doubting herself and over thinking it. I feel her smile under my lips and press her body to mine. When I pull away, I press my forehead to hers. "I'm so proud of you."

She smiles, my favorite smile in the world and grips my arms as if to keep upright. I lean away and look at her face, and she's still smiling like a buffoon. "Pretty soon, you're going to be known as the guy dating Elena Gilbert."

"I'm already known as that."

"But to everyone. To the real world and not just this bubble we have here in the city."

I smile. "That doesn't matter. What matters is you'll have everyone dying for your attention, and your dream will come true."

She smiles wider and leans up to kiss me again.

* * *

Someone knocks on the door of my apartment just as I'm getting dressed. It's probably Stefan or Ric or maybe even Elena. A small part of me hopes its Elena.

I'm still buttoning up my shirt as I open the door to reveal Stefan. "Oh come on, cover up," he mutters in disgust and invites himself in.

"Please, come in," I mutter sarcastically.

"Just be happy I knocked. Are you almost ready?"

"Do I look ready?"

He rolls his eyes. "Well, just hurry up. We have to pick up Caroline in ten minutes."

I stop in my tracks and turn back towards Stefan, wide eyed. Elena had told me today that she and Caroline were going out somewhere. "I thought Elena and Caroline were hanging out tonight."

"They are, but Elena's not ready yet so she's going to come with us for a little bit and then Elena's going to pick her up."

Caroline's going to have to be waiting for a long time then. She's always taking such a long time to get ready. I turn back around and head for my bedroom. I grab my phone and text Elena quick, asking her what she's doing. I button up the rest of my shirt and roll up the sleeves to my elbows. I grab my keys just as my phone vibrates on the bedside table.

_Just got out of the shower, getting ready for tonight. Thinking about you ;) _

I smile and text her back, letting her know I'm thinking about her too and make a witty remark about her being in the shower without me.

We get to Caroline's apartment building and Stefan sends her a text, letting her know we're outside. "Really, Stefan? A text? What the hell is wrong with you?"

He narrows his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Why aren't you doing up to get her? Are you scared?"

"No, we're just going to be going up and down four flights of stairs for no reason."

"So use the elevator."

"The elevator is broken and I don't feel like breaking a sweat by going up and down eight flights of stairs."

I stare at him for a second before looking away out the window and muttering "weakling."

Caroline runs out of the front door of the building and comes towards us. She stops outside my door and opens it. "I call shotgun."

All I do is laugh and she narrows her eyes at me. "Get in the back," I tell her, trying to stop laughing.

"Damon, I always get shotgun when Stefan drives."

I stop laughing and roll my eyes. "Yeah, so do I. Bros before hoes remember? Back seat."

Caroline looks to Stefan for help and so do I. He has a face on, not knowing whose side to pick. "Damon, just get in the back seat."

I open my mouth in protest but then close it. "Fine. I didn't want to sit up here anyway." I turn to Stefan. "You smell like cheese." I then get out of the car and get in the back.

"No, I don't."

He didn't, but I only said it to make him mad. Caroline gets in the front seat with a little smirk on her face and looks at me through the side mirror. I narrow my eyes at her and then turn away.

We arrive at the bar and get inside. We find Jeremy and Ric already drinking beers at a table. Ric has some brunette hanging on his every last word and Jeremy looks bored, staring at his phone. We get to the table and they both look at us. "Finally, you guys are here. Hey, I thought I made it clear when I said no girlfriends allowed."

Stefan rolls his eyes. "She'll only be here for a few minutes. An hour at the most. She's waiting for Elena who is still getting ready."

"Hello, that 'she' is standing right here!" Caroline complains and I roll my eyes.

"Oh yeah, Elena does take a while to get ready sometimes. You might be waiting for a while, Caroline," Jeremy says with a smirk.

Caroline gives him a look. "She'll be here in like a half hour."

Jeremy chuckles. "I wouldn't hold your breath on that, but okay. What are you guys doing tonight anyways?"

"Elena and I are going out to another bar since we weren't invited. I think it's one of those karaoke things. Maybe a movie, I don't know."

I sighed, realizing I was going to miss out on a chance to see Elena sing. Caroline goes over to say hello to Ric and mystery brunette girl. Jeremy pats us on the back. "Alright, ready for a girlfriend free night of getting sloppy drunk?"

"Hell yeah," I say and make my way to the bar. I order a beer for the three of us, knowing Ric already has a drink. When I get back to the table, we all say cheers and down the beers.

* * *

I'm not sure how much time has passed when I see a brunette head poke in through the door of the bar, looking beautiful as ever with her hair in waves. She's wearing very short jean shorts that made her legs look a million miles long, and a tight black t-shirt. I feel my pants tighten slightly as I keep watching her.

She walks in, obviously not seeing us. She looks to the bar, her face brightening. I look over to the bar, confused at what she saw that made her so happy, when I see her walk over into a man's arms.

My breath escapes from my chest. They share a tight hug before leaning away from each other, not breaking their contact. Elena is smiling widely, talking quickly, and looking nervous. She obviously knows this guy and hasn't seen this him in a while.

Something in my stomach makes me feel unsettled. I shouldn't feel jealous. But I am. And maybe the reason is because she has the same look on her face when she looks at me. Except she's less nervous around me.

I watch them for a few more minutes before I decide enough is enough and I go see what's going on. I make my way over. They had broken their contact and now are just leaning casually against the bar. I go and put my arms around her waist, pressing my lips to her cheek. I hear her giggle. "Hello," she says.

"Hi," I say, a wicked grin on my face.

I can tell this guy who had his hands all over my girl is feeling uncomfortable. "Dylan, this is my boyfriend Damon. Damon, this is my… friend Dylan."

Something about that name sounds familiar, but I can't place it. I keep one arm around Elena, staking my claim as I turn to him. He has dark brown hair pointing in all different directions and brown eyes. He puts a slight smile on his face and holds his hand out. "Nice to meet you, Damon."

Okay, time to play this game. "Nice to meet you too."

"Dylan and I used to date," Elena tells me and then it hits me. He was her last boyfriend. He was the one who cheated on her.

I raise my eyebrows as I tighten my arm around her. "Is that so?"

Elena nods nervously and turns her attention back on Dylan. God, I could just punch him right in the face right now. For something that wasn't even my business, just because he hurt Elena. "So, what are you doing here?"

"I just got here a few hours ago and needed a drink. I was about to text you to see if you wanted to meet up somewhere to hangout." Dylan looks to me and my eyes narrow. He obviously wants to say more, but decides not to. Smart choice.

They start talking about something. Maybe about his last trip to somewhere, I'm not really sure and don't give a damn. I just size him up. I could take him. He's not that big. If I just punched him in the face right now, he'd probably stumble backwards and fall to the ground. Then Stefan or somebody would come and try to break it up. Maybe Jeremy would help me because from what I hear, Jeremy, Matt and Tyler already did a number on him when he cheated on her before. Dylan would most likely try to retaliate and then punch me back and then I would punch him in the stomach. Then maybe someone would pull me off of him and Elena would look at me like I'm her knight in shining armor and then-

"Damon!"

I'm broken out of my reverie by Elena. She's looking up at me, waiting for an answer to something. "What did you say?"

"I asked you what you guys were going to do tonight."

I shrug. "Probably just stay here. Caroline already told me your plans."

"Finally! You're he-oh." Caroline comes up to us and stops midsentence after seeing Dylan. "Hello, Dylan," she says tight lipped."

"Nice to see you too, Caroline," Dylan replies rhetorically and she just rolls her eyes.

"Elena, are you ready to go?"

Elena nods and looks to Dylan. What the hell? "I'll see you later. Text me so we can hangout sometime."

Yeah, Elena and I are going to have to talk about that. She's definitely not going to see him.

Dylan nods and is all fucking smiles before he pulls her in for a hug. I keep my arm in place, not even considering letting go of her. I look to Caroline and she's looking at me, the same feeling I'm feeling written all over her face. We both roll our eyes as Elena and Dylan pull away from each other. "It was good to see you, Elena."

Elena nods. "Yeah, you too. I'll see you later, okay?"

Dylan nods. "Okay."

Elena gives him one last smile before I almost drag her out of there. I drag her, following Caroline somewhere far from Dylan. "Damon, stop pulling me," she says and I immediately take my hands off her. But only because Caroline had stopped walking.

"Elena, want to let me in on what the hell you're doing?" Caroline asks her, a determined look on her face.

Elena shrugs and looks around. "I'm just standing here, talking to you guys. What the hell does it look like I'm doing?"

"I mean what the hell are you doing with Dylan?"

She heavy sighs. "Nothing! I just haven't seen him in a while."

"Did you forget what he did to you?"

"Well no but we're friends now. I forgot to tell you that part."

Casey takes a deep breath and looks at me. "Okay, we're going to talk about this later. Bye, Damon."

I look at Elena, unsure of what her true intentions tonight was. She gives me a smile and I immediately melt inside. My anger flees for a moment and I smile back at her and give her a kiss. "Be careful. Don't have too much fun or do things I wouldn't do."

She rolls her eyes. "Damon, that list is a very small list. I'll see you later."

I watch her walk out of the bar with Caroline before walking back to our table. It looks like none of them saw what just happened. Jeremy looks to me. "Where'd you go? I ordered you a shot."

"Do you remember Elena's ex boyfriend Dylan?" I ask him, wanting to know the whole situation. It appears Elena left some things out before.

He nods. "Yeah, why?"

I turn around and point to him at the bar. "Because he's over there, and before was chatting up with Elena."

I turn back to him. His eyes are narrowed as he looks at him. "Scumbag. I can't believe he has the guts to show his face in here anymore."

"So, what really happened?"

He looks to me. "Elena didn't tell you?"

I shrug. "She told me he cheated on her because she wasn't good enough for him or something like that."

Jeremy nods. "Oh yeah. That whole thing happened, then Matt, Tyler and I got to beat him up. That was fun. Looks like he's recovered though. Maybe I could just go over there and remind him again not to-"

"Okay, we'll talk about that later. Just tell me what happened after they broke up."

Jeremy thinks for a moment as I brace myself for what he's about to say. Alaric makes his way over and sits down. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Dylan's back in town."

Alaric looks around the bar and spots him. "That fucker. You guys should've gone harder on him last time."

"On who?" Stefan asks as he comes over. I roll my eyes. Just give me the god damn story.

"On Dylan."

After I tell them the whole situation, ten minutes have gone by and I'm still waiting for story. They're talking about things they caught Dylan and Elena doing once upon a time. Things I had no interest in hearing. "So what happened after the broke up?" I ask again, hoping to actually get an answer and not have to wait another ten minutes.

"Oh yeah! So they broke up and Elena started sleeping at my house because she was too upset to be alone and Caroline was still with that Klaus guy. A couple months past and they met again and started hanging out but as friends," Jeremy explains as Ric and Stefan both nod their heads in agreement.

"How do you guys know that and Caroline doesn't?"

Ric shrugs. "Because Caroline is a psycho and if she heard she was hanging out with Dylan again she would've gone ape shit."

"And you guys didn't?"

"Well, I was just happy she trusted us to even tell us that. We told her a countless number of times to stop hanging out with him, even told him to stop hanging out with her but they just went behind our backs. She only told us when she was all upset that he left town."

I sigh and lean back in my seat. Looks like I've got some new fucking competition. At least I'm not going to cheat on her. Now it looks like I've just got to do everything in my power to keep them apart.

* * *

**A/N: Remember to review, follow, favorite and follow me on twitter! Smolderrholders**

**Enjoy tonight's episode and I'll see you next week!**

**Xoxo Em**


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